Smokes and Punk Clothes
by Chiara Alice Vargas
Summary: Alfred's the new kid in the school, and he's already pretty popular. He's intrigued by an older student who he thinks looks quite out of place. He thought he was just the typical delinquent and all, but it seems like there's something more to him. Delinquent!Arthur and Popular!Alfred, high school AU, Alfred's POV, rated M for later chapters. Multi-pairings and a lot of characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Smokes and Punk Clothes**

**A USUK fanfic**

**Warning: Rated M for later chapters and also language, just to be safe. High school AU, lots of characters, delinquent!Arthur and popular new-guy!Alfred. Some characters will be gender-bent. Alfred's POV**

* * *

"Alfred, are you listening to me?" Francis looked at me, concerned. I was spacing out in the middle of his discussion about this school, and whatever was in it. Someone standing outside of the cafeteria's glass panel caught my eye, and I found myself intrigued.

Francis was a senior. Normally, seniors didn't really bother to talk to freshmen like me.

"Well, you seemed like an interesting kid." he shrugged when I asked him indirectly a few moments ago. Indeed, a lot of people thought so. I was one of the popular faces around the campus now, even if it's just been a week. Some girls even told me I was "cute". Maybe it's because I'm slightly muscular and six feet tall and I've got blonde hair and blue eyes and fair skin? Not that I'm bragging or anything, I'm just describing myself. I'm not that perfect and godly-looking if that was the image I portrayed onto your mind.

"O-oh!" I looked back towards him, "Sorry, I, uh, kinda spaced out." I scratched the back of my head as I scooped some of the green Jell-O in my mouth. "Can y' repeat that?"

"As I was saying, there are a lot of clubs you can join in, but make sure you choose carefully; choose clubs whose schedules do not overlap one another." he repeated, this time looking a bit more annoyed since I failed to pay attention the last time. "Tell me, what are the things that interest you?" he asked me. I can feel he's trying to help me out, here.

"Uh... I dunno. Football, I guess? Music? Chemistry?" I shrugged noncommittally. It sounded like an odd combination.

He paused for a while and nodded. "Hmm, yeah, I think you can go for those. It's a real hit with the ladies." he waggled his eyebrows at me. "Well, the football and the music one, at least. If you form a band and perform during school shows and stuff, you could get really popular." he shrugged, taking a sip out of his juice packet, frowning at the orange juice's sourness.

"I'll give it some thought. Thanks, man." I nodded, smiling a bit. Great, now this club thing's got me thinking. Honestly, though, I could really care less if a certain club was more of a chick-magnet than the other.

"Oops, gotta go now. Five minutes until next period. You should get going too, yeah? I'll see you later, Alfred." he stood up and left the table. For a second there, I thought he winked at me. I rolled my eyes. Such a charmer.

My eyes drifted back to the glass panel again, showing a clear view of the garden outside the cafeteria. It was all leaves and fancy-schmancy pathways and stuff. The person I saw earlier was still there. He threw something that awfully looked like a cigarette to the ground and snubbed it with his foot. He then took the cigarette butt then quickly placed it inside one of his leather jacket's pockets, as if he was hiding it. Maybe smoking inside the campus was against the rules...? I dunno. All I knew was that I was going to be late for my next class because I just heard the bell ring and I was one of the few left in the cafeteria. I cursed under my breath and quickly stood up and ran out, throwing my trash into a trash bin along the way.

* * *

"Jones?"

"Present..."

I sat in my chair, glad that I made it in class just in time, before the teacher came in. The teacher called out the names after 'Jones', now. I paid him no mind.

"So, how're ya liking this school?" my seatmate asked me. She was blonde with slightly wavy hair. She had a green headband placed on top of her head, and she was quite well-endowed. She also had this European accent; it was kinda noticeable so it was easy to tell.

"It's nice." I replied and smiled at her.

"Cool. I'm Zoe." she grinned at me cheerfully. Zoe's quite a cool name, huh? Not the ones you usually hear around here.

"Alfred." I nodded at her, keeping my smile on my face.

"I know." she silently chuckled. Oh, yeah, I forgot, I'm pretty popular with the ladies as well. That's how Francis put it.

She shut up because the teacher just looked at her with a warning glare. I could still see the smile on her face, though.

English class kinda bored me to death. I'm pretty sure everyone else was, too. Only one girl seemed to take quite an interest. She was small and squeaky-voiced, blonde as well. Lili, as I was told later, wasn't really good with English, so she's trying her best to learn as much as she can.

"Oh, man, that stuff was boring!" Zoe laughed, stretching her arms up, as we both walked out of the classroom together.

I only nodded. My eyes strayed off again, spacing out in the middle of the conversation. It was the same guy from the cafeteria earlier. He was leaning out by the windowsill in the hallway, taking another drag. Must be one of those delinquent-types...

"Who's he?" Zoe asked me, as if she expected me to know him and introduce her to him.

I shrugged, "I dunno, I keep seeing him around, smoking." I kept my voice low so that he won't hear us. I only took notice now, but aside from the leather jacket, he wore leather boots, knee-tattered jeans and a band shirt of some punk band I've never heard of, and multiple piercings on his ear. His hair was messy and sticking out everywhere, and he had this constant scowl on his face. It was the delinquent stereotype appearance.

"Hmm." was all Zoe could say. I shrugged again. "I've got next period in five. Catch you later!" she waved at me before going off into the other direction.

I passed by the punk-dressed guy, just to get a closer look at him. He seemed so... out of place here. He was the only one I've seen dressed like someone who's just been to a punk-rock concert. Apart from that, he didn't seem like he had friends, either. I wonder why no one's tried to do anything about it, though.

I glanced back as I walked past him to the lockers, thankful that he didn't notice me.

* * *

The afternoon sun was setting and I was already headed home when I felt a hand clap on my shoulder. It was Francis.

"Hey, Alfred. So, how was today?" he asked me with some kind of fake interest. I seriously don't know why he bothers. All I could hope for is that he doesn't fancy me or anything... Ughhhh...

"It was fine." I replied shortly.

"Cool. Have you decided which club you'll be entering?" he grinned.

"Maybe I'll join the photography club." I shrugged. I only said that just to give him an answer and for him to get off my case. It was the first thing off the top of my head.

"Photography, eh..." he paused in thought. "You can make a killing with that... Secret business... Sell some pictures..." I could hear him mumbling in thought.

We walked in silence for a moment, passing the school's main gate. I remembered something I needed to ask him. I thought he would know.

"Hey, Francis... Do you know that guy back in school? The one who wears all those punk clothes and stuff." I asked him curiously. I could see his face light up in recognition.

He laughed, "Yeah, I do. The blonde, not-so-tall, surly guy, right? He's Arthur. He and I are in the same cooking class, an elective. He's pretty horrible at it." he chuckled, as if the mere idea of Arthur made him laugh.

"Is he a senior like you?"

"Nah, he's a junior. Why do you ask?" he furrowed a brow, looking amused.

"No reason. He just looked kinda out of place."

"He dresses differently, and he's pretty surly, but he's actually really smart. He's always at the top of his class, I hear."

"Really?" I didn't expect that. It just goes to show you can't really judge someone with how they look.

"Mhm. The teachers can't really do anything about his behaviour, because he's full of snark and wit. He's smart like that, he can outsmart teachers out of a detention." he laughed.

"That's cool." I said in awe.

"Yeah, it is." he agreed, but he wasn't broadly smiling now. He looked a bit more sullen, one side of his lips turned up into a half-smile.

I didn't really dare ask him why his mood suddenly changed. We fell silent until we reached the intersection. He goes straight ahead while I need to take the right.

"I have to go now, I'll see ya tomorrow, Francis. Bye." I grinned at him, walking off to the direction of my house.

"Bye." he smiled at me as well, but it was kinda forced. I turned back to wave at him as I continued walking down the road.

I reached the front step of my house. Mom and Dad weren't home, I could tell. Their car wasn't in the driveway yet. My sister was, though. She was sitting inside the living room, watching MTV on our LCD TV, her feet hanging off the side of the couch.

"Hey, Maddie. I'm home." I said as I removed my shoes and placed them at the side, waving a bit at her.

"Hey, Alfred." she replied, not really looking up. I could tell she was smiling, though. Her emotions were pretty easy to tell by using her voice.

She's in the 8th grade and she's blonde, just like me. Her hair was wavier, though, and her eyes were kinda purple instead of the blue eyes I have. She wears glasses just like me, and if anything, she's blinder than me without them. She's really nice to people to the point they can probably step on her like a doormat and likes to cook for them. She's pretty smart for her age as well. When we were young, my parents used to call her a pretentious little girl. Wait, no, I think it was "precocious". Whatever.

"How's school?" I asked her, placing my bag beside the couch, leaning against it.

"It was all right." she frowned. "Why do you ask? It's not like you to actually be interested." she rolled her eyes.

"No reason. Can't I ask my little sister how school was without getting a harsh remark?" I frowned a bit and she only laughed.

"You're pretty sensitive. Anyway, I should be the one asking you that. How was school? I mean, it's just been your first week and all."

"It's okay. I met someone new today. Zoe. She's European, I think. Pretty friendly."

"Ooh." she grinned. "You two get along fine?" she smirked slyly. God, please no.

"Yeah, and I know what you're thinking of, Maddie. Not gonna happen." I said firmly.

She scowled for a split second, before sighing. "Well, I can't help but worry for you, I mean, you've never gotten a girlfriend or anything!" she sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh, like you have!" I laughed, lightly hitting her arm.

"W-well, that's beside the point." I knew she was insecure about it when it came to her.

"Whatever. I'll be upstairs if you need me, call me when dinner's ready." I picked up my bag from the carpeted floor and walked upstairs, and into my messy quarters. Clothes strewn everywhere, and cans of soda on the floor and in my trash bin, my PS3 still on the floor, and my Marvel comics collection spread out on my desk. Mom says she hates going inside my room, because it gave her headaches. Dad said it "reeked of manliness", which I took to mean that it reeked of socks and teenage body odor. I took the liberty of spraying some air freshener the next morning, much to Dad's disappointment. Maddie said it was gross, and that it gives her cleaning impulses despite my threats towards her if she ever touches my room. She gets that thing from Mom, honestly. I dived into my unmade bed, not bothering to remove my socks and school uniform as I drifted into a nap.

* * *

There was smoke everywhere, a glare of two identical green lights, blaring loud music and the sound of metal falling onto the floor. I was seeing this haze, and I was in the middle of it, coughing and hacking due to the thick smoke around me. My eyes teared up, and I can't see anymore, until I fell to the ground and everything turned black.

I woke up with a startled jolt, realizing that I really was coughing. The smoke alarm was trilling loudly and I could smell smoke from downstairs. Shit.

I sprang out of my bed, throwing the door open and ran down the stairs, fearing the worst.

"Maddie, get the fire extinguisher!" I heard my mom call out, with a few sounds of coughing.

"Mom, Maddie -" I sprinted towards the kitchen where the source of smoke was. I skidded to a halt, finding that the problem was taken care of.

"The smoke alarm plays you the song of its people, dear." my dad remarked with a chuckle, before he was met with my mother's stony glare.

"Oh, shush, you." she snapped back at him, and I could hear Maddie chuckling, the fire extinguisher was now put down.

"Mom, you burned something again?" I asked.

"Yes, dear, I'm sorry. It was supposed to be our dinner." she sighed.

"Man, you had me worried. I thought the house was burning down or something." I mumbled, but no one seemed to hear me. My dad laughed again.

"Well, you can't feed that to us now, unless you want to give us cancer with all the carcinogens that dish has." he remarked lightly.

"Well, I'm so sorry, Mister I'm-the-best-chef-in-the-world! I never said I was planning to serve you that anyway, especially since you're such an insufferable prick sometimes!" she snapped back sarcastically. Maddie and I looked at each other, a bit frightened.

"Now, now, honey, it was a joke." my dad tried to soothe her. "I'll make us dinner tonight, why don't you rest? I'm sure you've had a hard day." he smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"I suppose I shall..." she sighed, all anger evaporated as she retreated to the living room.

"Nice save, Dad." I snickered, elbowing his arm a bit. It was one of the nice things about the guy. He could fix things like that up, and avoid unnecessary fights.

"Thanks." he grinned at me as he scraped the charred remains of the food from the frying pan and into the trash can.

Maddie left to go back into her room, a bit disappointed since there wasn't anything to eat yet.

I left as well, sitting beside my mother as she watched the cooking channel (it's ironic and hopeless, I tell you). I spaced out, my mind drifting off to that dream I just had.

Two identical green lights? Thick smoke? Loud music? What was that even supposed to mean? I sighed and sank back into the chair, closing my eyes.

Smoke... Reminded me of that guy. Arthur, right? And loud music... Maybe it's the kind of music he listens to? I don't know. Why am I trying to fit the pieces together anyway? More so, why am I trying to connect it to him? God, I hope I haven't become obsessed about him or something. That would be awful.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** HEEEY! So, this is the new project I decided to work on. I got inspired when I read this fanfic here on FF, the one with whore!Arthur and nerd!Alfred. It was real cute and stuff.

Sorry if it wasn't that interesting in the beginning and stuff... I'm not really good at doing Alfred's POV, since I'm so used to doing Arthur's.

I've planned this to have a lot of chapters. I kinda came up with this while I was eating my McFlurry in McDonalds, a few hours before I was subjected to immense shoulder pain and blood circulation cut-off.

By the way, in case you're wondering and haven't noticed yet, Zoe is Belgium, and Matthew/Canada/le Canadian bro is gender bent to be Maddie/Madeline/le Canadian sis. More characters in the later chapters because I love me some characters.

Rate and review and whatever, tell me what needs to be improved on~ They really motivate me~ By the way, I just edited this to put the line breaks, which I forgot to put before. LOL.

**Oh, and NO BURGERS, NO LIFE.**

**(Alfred: Hell yeah!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Smokes and Punk Clothes**

**A USUK fanfic**

**Warning:** Rated M for later chapters and also language, just to be safe. High school AU, lots of characters, delinquent!Arthur and popular new-guy!Alfred. Some characters will be gender-bent. Alfred's POV

* * *

"Hallo, Alfred!" an energetic voice called out to me. I turned to my right, distracted from eating my sandwich to see a female albino — pretty noticeable from the red eyes and platinum blonde hair and all — approaching me with her tray of food. She had other people in tow, as well; a girl with pink flower barrettes in her hair, and another girl with glasses and some stubborn piece of hair sticking out.

They all sat at my table. I just looked at them, dumbfounded. Have I met them before? Well, I guess it's no surprise how they know me, since I am pretty well known around here.

"Uhh... Hi?" I grinned a bit at them hesitantly, a few crumbs littering the corner of my mouth. Smooth, Alfred, real smooth.

"Hey there! Ich bin Maria. A senior. Nice to meet ya!" she grinned, clasping my hand and shaking it firmly.

I just took that foreign phrase to mean as "I am Maria." I don't even speak whatever language she just used. God, my school is like the United Nations now, huh.

"Oh, hi, Maria." I smiled back, weakly shaking back. I didn't waste time telling her that my name is Alfred and that I'm a freshman. She already knew that, as expected.

"This is Elizaveta," she pointed to her friend on the right, a charming young lady (I'm sure she's also a senior) who only has a salad on her tray. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at her plate. "Vegetarian." Maria supplied for me, and Elizaveta laughed.

"Call me Liz, or Eliza. It's nice to meet you, Alfred." she smiled at me warmly, gently shaking my hand, as if she knew that Maria wore it out by gripping it too tightly.

"Nice to meet ya, as well. I think I'll call you Liz." I laughed, shaking her hand while biting into my delicious cheese grilled sandwich. Mmm, oh God. This is just... heaven in a snack.

"This is Anneliese." she gestured to the quieter looking girl. She looked pretty classy, and quite fragile as well, like she got sick a lot. She gave me a half-smile. "Hello, it's nice to meet you." she briefly shook my hand before pulling it back. She looked like she didn't really want to be here, and that Maria only forced her to tag along. "I'm from the classical music club." she added.

"Oh, that's cool." I nodded and quickly glanced at her plate. Maria noticed me this time as well.

"She scrimps on lunch and snacks, she doesn't really like spending much buying food in the cafeteria." she chuckled, before adding: "Of course, in contrast to Lizzie's herbivorism, I'm a meat-eater. Like, totally meat. The only vegetable I'll probably eat consciously would be potatoes." she grinned at me, sinking her teeth into her ham and cheese sandwich.

Interesting information. Now, tell me, "What brings you girls here?" I casually asked. I actually wanted to say, "What the heck are you guys doing here?" but that would sound a bit harsh and mean of me so I didn't.

"Nothin', we just wanted to talk to the popular, new kid. You looked interesting and easy to talk to, is all!" she laughed.

Elizaveta thoughtfully added, "You know, you're like, all the talk among the seniors!"

"Just the seniors?" I asked confusedly. Why am I only interesting to a certain group of people. Not that I minded, anyway.

"Not really, it's just that most of the people who're talking about you are from the twelfth grade. You're quite popular around the school in general." Anneliese shrugged, pushing back her tray that held nothing but a single cookie just a while ago.

This really unnerved me. I don't know if this popularity thing is a good thing to live with during high school.

"No need to worry, though. You're all good in everyone's books." Maria smiled at me. "Although, if there's one person you don't want to attract attention from, that's Braginski, that kid from the 11th grade. He scares the living shit outta me." Maria kinda spat out the word 'shit'.

"Oh, yeah, Braginski. Ivan. The tall guy with the scarf. I don't think he's really mean, but he does creep me out a bit." Liz laughed, then abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong?" I asked, puzzled.

She waited a few moments, glancing towards the other table, gulping a bit. I tried to follow her gaze, but something in Maria's expression told me not to. Anneliese looked as passive as usual.

Moments later, Elizaveta breathed out, sounding kinda relieved.

"I think Natalya just heard us."

"Who?" I asked again. This wasn't making any sense, guys. I looked to the table I was trying to look at earlier, and I saw that a girl just vacated it.

"Natalya. She's a freshman, as well. She's popular — not as popular as you, though — but she earned that because of her personality. She tags along with her brother all the time, and her cold stares are like, daggers through your soul." Elizaveta let out a slight shudder.

"_Icy_ daggers through your soul." Maria corrected. "She's like, twice as creepy as her half-brother, Ivan. She looks like she's capable of murder or something! I thought it runs in the family but I guess I'm pretty relieved that their older sister, Yekaterina, is saner than both of them."

"That's not a very nice thing to say about someone..." I found myself rushing to Ivan and Natalya's defense. "I'm sure they're misjudged..."

"I suppose. I wouldn't mess with them if I were you, though." Elizaveta shrugged. "They say Natalya's the only person Ivan's scared of, so I guess that's saying a lot."

"Still, though. Maybe you guys are being hard on them..." I said a bit uncertainly.

"I dunno. Oh well. Shall we get going? We'll accompany you to your locker." Maria offered, grinning at me.

Uh... Haha... No thanks, I'll pass. I don't think I need any more attention by bringing along three female seniors to my locker.

"No, it's okay, I can manage on my own." I replied.

Maria and Elizaveta looked slightly disappointed. "Aww, okay. If you say so. Well, we'll see ya later, okay?" Elizaveta stood up, smiled and clapped me on my shoulder.

"Yeah, see ya around! Danke, by the way." Maria stood up as well, taking her tray with her.

"What?"

"Thanks!" she laughed, repeating it in English for me. "Thanks for your time. You're really an interesting kid." she grinned.

Kid. God, guys, I'm 15, how does that qualify as a kid? Just because you're seniors...

"Oh, you're welcome...?" I wasn't really sure if that was the right reply. "Bye, Maria, Liz, Anneliese." I nodded and waved at them. "It was nice talking to you three as well."

"It was nice talking to you too, Alfred." You say that, but you didn't even talk much. "Well, we'll be going now." Anneliese waved and left with the rest of them.

I watched them leave the cafeteria before I looked into my hand, realizing that my grilled cheese sandwich was gone. Aww, that sucks. I stood up and bought another one to eat between classes later.

* * *

'Thanks for sticking up for me and my brother earlier.' a note read. I picked it up from the bottom of my locker. It was written on a piece of torn-out notebook paper, in black ink and neat and tiny handwriting. It wasn't signed or anything and I didn't even recognize the handwriting, but I knew who it was from. Well, at least I'm pretty sure who it was from. Must be from that Natalya kid.

I folded up the piece of paper and slipped it into my wallet before retrieving my books and closing my locker. I saw Arthur again, sitting by the staircase, talking to someone on the phone.

"No, Mother, I honestly don't care. Alastair brought me, Gwyneth and Peter here on his decision and not because I forced him to. You can't tell me it's not fair for you and Caitlin to be left behind in England." I could hear him talking, his patience growing thinner with each word.

I couldn't help myself listening to him. I've never heard his voice until now. He sounds British. He mentioned England. I'm betting a thousand bucks that's where he's from.

"I don't give a bloody rat's arse —" eww, a bloody rat's ass? A rat's already disgusting, but a _bloody_ rat? More so, its ass? What. "— a bloody rat's arse about him. I'm not coming back. Not now, or ever. I'm sick and tired of it all."

How can he talk to his mother like that? He must be really pissed off at her.

"Learn to stand up on your own two feet, Mother. You can't rely on me or Alastair now. If you hate him so much, then leave him and spare me your idiotic whining." he groaned, his bushy, large eyebrows knit together in a frown. I could tell he's at the end of his wits, exasperated, all patience down the drain.

"Don't ever call me again." and with that, he hung up on the caller.

He stood up and I saw him walking towards my direction. I was frozen on the spot. Shit, if he finds out I've been eavesdropping —

He stopped in front of me, glared at me with a scowl. I blinked. Even if he was shorter than me by a few inches, his glare was enough to scare me. Oh God, this is the last place I want to be.

"You heard all of that?" he demanded in a British accent. It took me quite a while to compose myself, and to answer back.

"Well?" he said impatiently.

"Oh... I... Uh... Yeah, sorry, I just happened to pass by and I overheard..." I stammered out. Even if I did overhear, staying to hear more was inexcusable. He didn't look pleased with my answer.

"Don't tell anyone about what you heard." he said, before turning on his heel and walked off. I was confused. Why_ would_ I tell anyone? It's not like there was anything to tell. Francis was right about him being really surly, though.

No time to think about that, though. I had to run to my next class because I was running late, AGAIN. You're making a really nice impression, Alfred. Really nice.

I burst inside the classroom, out of breath and panting.

"You must be Mr. Jones! Sit down, you're late." a teacher, somewhat in his early or mid-twenties, wearing a black tie and a red long-sleeved polo shirt, slacks and new shoes, pointed me to my chair. He didn't really look pissed off at my tardiness, the way the other teachers have been. I've never seen him in any of my classes, though. Maybe he's a substitute?

"So, I'm your Math teacher starting today. Your previous Math teacher resigned, so I was hired to fill in. I don't know the details, but I hear he's gotta go back to his home country or something?" he paced around the room.

"The name's Matthias Køhler, pleased to meet you all. Before you ask, yeah, I'm not from this country. I'm Danish." he grinned at us, and I could hear the buzz of the female students. I know what they're fussing about; They think he's really good looking and whatnot. Well, I can't disagree. His blonde hair went up in spikes, and he looks really cheerful.

He started talking about the lessons we'll be covering and stuff, and I found myself not listening. I tried, but I got distracted yet again. Stupid attention deficit whatever.

Arthur's pretty mysterious, huh. Why does he talk back to his mom like that, though? He really is like a typical delinquent. I looked out into the window, and saw the gray clouds hovering up in the sky. It looked like it was going to rain. Great. I didn't even bring an umbrella with me.

Mister Køhler handed out some worksheets for us to do at home, saying something like, "evaluation" and "I'll see how much you guys know". One glance at it and I knew it was pretty easy. Not to brag or anything, but I'm pretty good in Science and Math.

Class ended and we all left. Next period was Spanish class. I chose that as an elective. Spanish is already one of the widely used languages here in the States, so I figured I should learn the basics. Wait, is it Spanish or is it Mexican? Is Mexican even a language? I thought Mexicans spoke Spanish, or did they have a dialect of their own? Whatever.

I sat down on one of the seats near the window in Spanish class just as Mr. Carriedo walked in. He was a fresh college graduate, so he's still pretty young and really tanned, friendly too. He's quite a popular teacher with the girls. Maybe that's why there're a lot of girls taking Spanish this year.

"Alfred! Hey there." Maria called out and sat next to me. I saw Francis sit on the chair in front of me.

"Hey, you two. I didn't know you both took Spanish." I blinked. I never saw them in the previous classes.

"Yeah, but we ditch Spanish sometimes." Francis shrugged. "Toni doesn't seem to mind."

"Toni?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Antonio, Mr. Carriedo's first name. We three have been friends since childhood. He's older than us, though, so he acts like he's our older brother." Maria laughed. Mr. Carriedo cleared his throat, and both of them shut up, sat properly and paid attention.

Since this is basic Spanish, he just made us memorize numbers and basic phrases.

"Buenos dias, buenos tardes, buenos noches. 'Bueno', means 'good', so it's the 'good' in 'Good morning'. Bueno has its similar equivalents in different languages. Like, in Italian and French. They don't all sound the same of course." he pointed to a brown-haired male student who appeared to be frowning in a deep scowl. "Vargas, what's 'good' in Italian?" the teacher asked him. I thought this was Spanish class, not language class?

"Buono." he replied, his face not changing.

"And in French?" he pointed to Francis.

"Bonne." he said, with a flourish of the thick French accent.

"Of course, in German, it's 'Guten', but Toni won't ask that because it doesn't even sound like 'Bueno'." Maria whispered to me and chuckled.

"Is there anything you'd like to share with the class, Miss Beilschmidt?" Mr. Carriedo turned to her, smiling.

"Nein, it's nothing, Herr Carriedo." she snickered. I knew she used German words on purpose to try and tick him off, but it didn't work.

He went back to discussing the similarities of Spanish words to its European neighbors', and Maria went quiet again and stared off into space, pretending like she was paying attention.

"Hm, Jones. Count from one to ten in Spanish." he pointed at me. Why me...?

"Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, deis." I replied, earning a pleased smile from the teacher. "Muy bien, Señor Jones! I guess you were listening, after all!" he laughed.

After class, I saw Maria and Francis headed over to the teacher's desk.

"Haha, sorry 'bout earlier, Toni..."

"...I guess your class isn't that boring after all..."

"...I'm happy that you liked it, si..."

They really were friends with him.

Maria pulled me by the wrist to the front. "Hey—!" I started, but she cut me off.

"Toni, meet Alfred, he's our new friend!" she beamed at him. I somehow felt like one of those kids from kinder schools, being shown to my friend's parents saying they met someone new today.

"Aha, I know who he is." he smiled. "Hola, Alfred. I'm Antonio Carriedo; you may call me that when we're out of classes. Nice to meet you~" he held out a hand and I shook it.

"You lot better get to your next class now, you might be late." he reminded them but they just waved it off. I took this opportunity to leave before either of them stopped me.

* * *

"It's you, again." Arthur looked at me with a slight frown on his face. He was leaning against a windowsill, looking outside. The rain was steadily falling and it kinda smelled like ammonia. I ran into him after class on my way down.

"Hi." I waved at him shortly, smiling.

"You're Alfred, right?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. And you're Arthur?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" he pulled out a pack from his pocket, took out a stick and lit it.

"Francis told me."

"Oh, that frog. You're friends with him?" he looked kinda disgusted.

"Kinda sorta." I said nonchalantly.

He said nothing and turned back to the window. I took this chance to ask him.

"Hey, what was that phone call about, the one from earlier?" I regretted it at once. I could see a twinge of annoyance on his face when I asked. Alfred, the constant meddler is in the house.

"It was nothing." he grunted, flicking the cigarette, causing ashes to fall down out of the window.

"Why shouldn't I tell anyone, though?" I asked again, pressing for an answer now.

"If word gets out, there'll be a huge commotion, especially with my bandmates. News spreads like wild fire around here. Just don't tell anyone and you're safe." he frowned. Was that like an underlying threat? What did I hear? It wasn't much, and if I told on him to anybody, it wasn't really going to have much of an impact based on the scraps of information I got. Still, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

"Okay." I shrugged, not prodding any further. "Wait, did you say bandmates?" I asked interestedly.

"Yeah. Didn't you hear me the first time? Me and three others."

"Cool! Is this like a club or something?" I asked again. This time he laughed for a second, flicking the cigarette.

"No, it's just a band, but we perform during school events and stuff." he smiled at me a bit, looking amused. "Why? If it was a club, would you have asked to join?" he chuckled, and I couldn't help but sputter in denial. I think I even felt my cheeks heat up.

"No, I was just curious, is all!" I huffed indignantly. I admitted to myself that yes, I would have. Joining a band sounds really interesting right now, actually. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that, though.

"Hm. If you say so." he shrugged. "I do lead vocals and lead guitar. It's like, a punk-rock band, but we mostly do covers." he said nonchalantly, and I couldn't help but look at him in awe.

"My sister does back-up vocals bass guitar, and does the lead when needed."

"That's cool." I managed to breathe out.

"Can you play an instrument?"

"E-guitar, and drums." I grinned, flashing him the peace sign without thinking. He raised his huge eyebrow at me.

"Hm." That's all he said. "Are you part of any club right now?"

"Not really, but I was thinking of joining the photography club." I blinked. I noticed he's suddenly taken an interest.

He nodded, threw the burnt-out cigarette stick away, and turned around to partially face me. I could see the piercings up close and all. He wore different kinds of dog tags and a leather wristband. I don't want to call it a bracelet.

"I know someone from the photography club. The president, actually. He's in the same year as me. Kiku Honda. I'll introduce you, if you want. It's pretty hard to get in the club, because Kiku's expectations are really high. I hear he's shot down almost every club application since he became the president last year. He's pretty talented, though." Arthur shrugged and I could see a half-smile.

"That... That would be cool." I managed to say. Where was this sudden interest and kindness coming from?

Suddenly, a girl yanked the sleeve of Arthur's band shirt. Her voice sounded irritated.

"Arthur! Come on, what are you doing hanging out here, we have practice today! Everyone's waiting and I've been looking all over!" she frowned at him, looking really ticked off. She kinda dressed like Arthur, but a bit milder. Her blonde hair that reached up to the bottom of her shoulder blades had red highlights, and she wore a shirt with leather combat boots and a black pair of pants. Her green eyes looked sharp.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot." he scratched his head as he apologized, yet he didn't really look sorry. "I'll just take you to the Photography Club tomorrow." he said to me and gave a short wave before walking down the hallway with the girl who didn't even bother saying 'hi'. Who was she? There was a slight resemblance with her and Arthur but I can't really say. Maybe she's his girlfriend from the band or something? I don't know.

I felt really tired so I just ran back home, covering my head with my bag. By the time I reached home, I was sopping wet and my sister wasn't on the couch watching TV like usual. I dragged my cold, tired, wet body upstairs to the bathroom so I could take a shower. It was too late; I had realized when I was inside, because I've already caught a cold. Stupid immune system.

I peeled off my clothes, and placed them near the sink, stepping inside and sighing contentedly as the hot water rained down on me and flowed down my body. I wondered if the cold would go away or if it would worsen. Either way, I didn't really mind.

* * *

**A/N:** HI YOU GUYS. I just finished my first-ever smut fanfic after I finished this chapte ;; Go check it out if you wanna~ I'm sorry if the story's a bit slow-paced... I planned this to be an all-over fanfic, with lots of characters and all with the main character as Alfred and the main pairing as USUK. I apologise if interaction would be quite slow and stuff ;A;

So, in case you guys haven't noticed (you'd have to be pretty slow not to...): **Maria Beilschmidt = Fem!Prussia** (sorry, Male!Prussia fans! :U),** Anneliese (Edelstein)** = Fem!Austria.

Romano/Lovino was mentioned earlier during the Spanish class scene but only by last name ;7;/ I was kinda like, debating if I'll gender-bend one of the Italian brothers, but I'm like, NAHHHH.

So, more chapters to come and stuff! I'll try not to get le writer's block again, or lose interest XD;;

_**UP NEXT:**_ LE RUSKIES. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? IVAN/MOTHER RUSSIAAAA~ Oh, and of course, Belarus/Natalya. I'll most likely put Ukraine/Yekaterina in there as well... But Natalya would probably get the most exposure... Hmm... Still planning it over...

Oh, well... Bye for now... /disappears into the shadows

OH AND THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS, BY THE WAY! ;U;


	3. Chapter 3

**Smokes and Punk Clothes**

**A USUK fanfic**

**Warning: Rated M for later chapters and also language, just to be safe. High school AU, lots of characters, delinquent!Arthur and popular new-guy!Alfred. Some characters will be gender-bent. Alfred's POV**

**{ ...You could really tell that I just copy-paste that shit, huh? }**

* * *

I walked around the hallway, looking for a certain room. It was rainier than usual outside. Guys, this is not fucking England. We are in fucking _America_.

I sneezed. I had caught a cold thanks to my awesome act of stupidity yesterday. I sniffled a bit, the sound was loud amongst the deafening silence.

It was already after school, and the halls were empty. Everyone just wanted to get home. Only the students who attend clubs stay after school hours. Oh, and teachers. They have to finish up their grade sheets or whatever teachers do besides teaching us boring crap. Damn, this building is huge. Stupid large campus, I can't even find the room I'm looking for.

Oh, yeah, I'm looking for the Photography Club's room. I know Arthur told me he'd take me there, but I didn't see him at all today, so I decided to go on my own. He might introduce me after it's too late, and the president won't accept members anymore.

"Ah, so you'll introduce me to him?" Alfred heard voice from the other corner of the hallway.

"Yes, I do believe he's talented, and ― speak of the devil, here's the man himself." I saw Arthur and some other guy run into me from the corner. The other guy was smaller, a bit pale and undoubtedly Asian. He had some kind of anime pin stuck to the strap of his messenger bag. I wonder if this is the president of the photography club...

Arthur raised an eyebrow, amused to see me around. "Hello, Alfred. This is Kiku, president of the Photography Club. He's your senior." he lifted a hand, presenting Kiku to me. "Kiku, this is the guy I wanted you to meet."

"Pleased to meet you." the smaller guy bowed a bit. He's kinda small to be my senior, huh? Well, Arthur's kinda small too, and he's also my senior.

"Nice to meet ya." I nodded, smiling at him. First impressions, Alfred.

Kiku cleared his throat and looked at his blonde friend, which I, only noticed now, was only wearing another band shirt and dark jeans and those boots he loved to wear so much. Nothing too outstanding or peculiar, now. He still had the piercings, though.

"I am delighted to make his acquaintance, but I'll be frank: why did you specifically ask me to meet him?" he asked bluntly, and my stomach did a funny lurch. He hasn't told him yet? All I could hope for was that Arthur would back me up on this one.

"I wanted to ask you if he could join the Photography club." he replied, his tone unchanging.

Kiku mulled it over for a moment, giving it some thought. I was nervous, though I tried not to show it. Arthur did tell me Kiku was a bit strict when it comes to letting members in.

He finally looked at us again, having reached what I thought was a decision.

"Hm. Well, are there any defining points about him that made you personally refer him to me? You know we're old friends and all, but you've never really done this before, so I'm curious as to why you handpicked him." Kiku looked at him quite stoically. So he and Arthur go way back, huh. I don't know if I'm supposed to be flattered or just kinda freaked out now that I find out that Arthur specially referred me.

"Alfred's got a great eye for people, and I would guess things as well." he shrugged, the answer was readily said from his mouth, like he didn't need to think it over. Of course, knowing Arthur (even though I haven't known him for more than 2 days), he really didn't.

"He can observe people and their actions stealthily. He would know when a good shot can be taken, and he'd do a pretty hushed up job about it. I do recall you mentioning something about more stealth photographers in your club." he continued, and I had to resist the urge to clamp a hand over his mouth. Why was he trying hard to get me into this club, going so far as to embellish my qualities and characteristics?

As he said that, I saw Kiku's face lighten up. "I'll think about it..." he nodded with a slight frown, as if he was slightly annoyed at Arthur for getting him like that with all that describing.

He turned to me, looking all professional and business-y. He removed his backpack from his back and pulled out a piece of paper from it, putting it on the floor before handing over the xeroxed sheet to me. "It'll be standard procedure; You will have to fill this application form. The lowest part instructs you to take pictures of whatever is told in the categories below. 4R, matte front, coloured unless stated. No post-processing." he stated clearly. I could sense how serious he was with the position and responsibility handed out to him.

I couldn't believe this. "Mhm, I got that." I nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks so much for the chance, Kiku!"

"Er... You're welcome." he looked slightly taken aback by my energetic and enthusiastic expression of gratitude. Oh, yeah, I forgot he's like, Asian or whatever so he must be all reserved or something. "I'll be expecting it by next week. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go now." he said with a tiny smile and bowed before leaving me and Arthur standing in the middle of the hall. I was still unable to get over the indescribable amount of joy I'm feeling. Next week. It's Wednesday, so I still have a week to go.

I turned to Arthur, grinning madly. "Artie, dude, that was so cool, thank you so much for that and oh my God how do I even thank you properly?" I said in a rush.

He merely raised an eyebrow at me, as if he was unable to understand my happiness. "Uh-huh. It's nothing, really."

"Why did you decide to help me, though?" I asked, calming down a bit. This had only occurred to me right now. Why would he do that, though?

"I decided I could use you to my band's advantage." he smirked a bit, and my eyebrows shot up. So this whole helping thing was to his advantage as well, that's why he helped me? I knew it wasn't an act of 100% good will and kindheartedness. I'm not sure why I felt kinda disappointed to know that, though. Why would I even expect him to do me a huge favor out of the blue? I couldn't help feeling kinda cheated on or betrayed, even though I wasn't really supposed to be.

"Oh? How would you use me to your benefit, exactly?" I asked, looking at him confusedly.

He paused for a moment, trying to piece the sentence together carefully. "I need you to be the one to take the pictures, even videos of the band. We'll need it for the publicity and stuff. We can't do it consistently since we got our hands full, and we can't always rely on the photographers from the clubs to do a good or even halfway decent job. Basically, you'll be in charge of graphics and stuff. Videos, photos, Photoshopping, posters, all that crap. You can do those stuff while under the cover of the Photography club." he waved his hands in gestures as he explained it to me.

"You serious, dude? That would be like, so cool." oh shit, I'm acting like a total fanboy, aren't I? I've never even heard them play!

"Serious as serious can be."

"Sounds great." I laughed. "I'll look forward to working with you, then."

He nodded. "So, basically, when we perform during school-shit events or whatever, you have to get yourself in charge of taking the pics of the event as well. It's double job; you have to do your work for the club, and you have to do your work for us. That would mean, two separate pieces of outcome as well. When I say 'get yourself in charge', I mean 'volunteer'. That way, you could actually take the pictures officially. It gets the job done easier."

"So, in short I'm your cameraman. Gotcha." I clicked my tongue with a grin, winked at him and pointed both of my fingers at him. "What's in it for me, though?" I frowned. I didn't want to do a job that only benefitted them, you know!

He frowned and sighed, looking slightly disappointed. "I knew you didn't weren't that easy, Jones." he smirked amusedly, as if caught in his dirty little scheme.

"You'll be paid, of course, and you'd get to hang with the band."

Great! Cash and a bunch of new friends to hang out with! I got a pretty sweet deal here, folks!

"Hmm. That'll do, I guess." I shrugged.

"Good." Something tells me even cash and a bunch of new friends seemed to displease him a lot already. I heard him mutter something under his breath, but I didn't hear him pretty well.

"I will have to trust you not to tell anyone that part of the photographer gig; I don't want word getting out that I've been using club people for my personal gain." he added a bit afterwards, his tone all serious and his look was all like, 'Bitch-you-better-do-as-I-say-because-terrible-things-happen-to-people-who-don't-follow-my-orders'. I'm not sure if that simile was perfectly said and if it had accurately captured the moment, though.

I suddenly remembered. "Hey, what was that all about, by the way? I mean, you like, embellished my character and all, telling Kiku all sorts of things!"

He chuckled. "It was true, though. The observing part. I've been on the receiving end so I know it to be true." he chuckled again, and smiled a bit at me before walking away down the hallway, leaving me a bit shocked.

So, he knew all those times I was looking the whole time? I stood there, stunned at this new revelation. Talk about embarrassing.

This is just perfect. Peachy.

* * *

"No. Freaking. Way." Zoe stared at me, her eyes like saucers. We were chatting over lunch the next day, and I just told her about me getting a shot at joining the Photography Club (God, saying 'Photography Club' is just so tedious. Can I just say 'CamClub' to make life easier for me?).

"I'm not busting your balls here." I frowned a bit, biting into my donut.

"But I don't have balls!" she laughed, taking a sip from her orange soda. "Seriously, though. I heard it was impossible, since it was run by this strict, uptight Japanese student or whatever." she looked all interested and shit.

"Mhm, yeah, but I haven't really gotten in, you know?" I laughed.

"Oh, well, if he gave you a second thought, then it's probably better than most and probably closer than anyone else has gotten."

Wow, is he _that_ picky when it comes to new members?

"Photography Club, though..." she thought it over. "I hear that club's got a shady rep. They're associated with the school newspaper, and anything that has to do with publicity has got to be bad in its own way. Oh, and I hear they also do this secret service thing where you can buy pics of someone, and they don't care what you'll use it on, as long as they get paid for it." she whispered to me in a low voice. Yikes, maybe that's what Arthur meant by 'stealth photographer'. Suddenly, I am beginning to question the legitimacy of this club. It doesn't sound as innocent and proper as it's supposed to be now that Zoe screwed it up like this.

"Is that so? Well, I'll just find out for myself." I shrugged, not showing my worrying about it.

"You go do that." she laughed again, putting down her soda can on the table, the aluminium making the lightest, faintest clink against the tabletop.

We sat eating our lunches (more like "snack", but whatever) in silence, having nothing else to say.

"How about you, have ya applied for a club yet?" I asked her, breaking the silence now.

"Oh, yeah, I joined the gardening club." she smiled and I snorted in laughter. She pulled a mock-offended face. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing. I didn't expect ya to be the gardening type."

"Well, I am, so deal with it." she smiled now. "Honestly, though, it runs in our family. Gardening, I mean. Even my brother Isaak gardens. He's like this big, stoic, surly type, one of the least people you'd expect to take up the hobby."

"That's cool." I nodded, dusting off the crumbs from the sleeve of my shirt. She stood up, the empty soda can in her right hand, "We should go get our books from the locker now, we have English next." she reminded me.

I stood up as well, placing the tray in the deposit area, leaving the cafeteria with her.

"Don't you get tired of hanging out with girls?" she said all of a sudden. I only noticed now, but I hardly hang out with guys. The only guys I've interacted with recently are Arthur and Francis and Kiku, even if Kiku and I aren't that close yet.

"Not really." I laughed, waving it off. I didn't really want to hurt her feelings so I just said that. It does get kinda annoying when all the girls just... crowd around you and encroach your personal space all the time. Kinda like what Maria did when she, Liz and Anneliese sat with me all of a sudden in the caf.

We parted for a while since our lockers were far from one another, then we just went to the English room on our own. She sat next to me like always, and started to ask me things about waffles and waffle mix and I remember myself saying something along the lines of pancake mix being the same as waffle mix. I would know, since Maddie always cooks pancakes on Sunday mornings.

Class started and I absentmindedly wrote down notes about whatever. I don't really have the best attention span in the world, so my notes just kinda tend to trail off mid-sentence until I look at them when I review for my exams and wonder what the he'll was I supposed to write next.

* * *

Monday after classes, I walked inside the club room, where Kiku was poring over some of the archives. There were voices coming from the room at the back which was only separated by a divider. I walked over to his desk, placing a white folder labelled 'Jones' on his desk. He looked up.

"Two days early? I see you are quite confident about your application."

Not even a 'hi' or 'hello'. I was too nervous to care right now, though. I swallowed, licking my dry lips. "Yeah, I got it done quite early. I hope it's not a problem?"

"Not at all." he smiled for a flicker of a second, and reached out towards the folder. He opened it and started to read the form inside. I tried my best to keep my handwriting neat and legible when I filled it out.

He wasn't making any sounds of approval or nodding or anything. I couldn't tell what he thought of it. It just made my nervousness escalate, and I was practically sweating.

Why am I so determined to get in, though? I mean, it's not like I actually cared about joining a club before until Francis somewhat pressured me into it. Maybe it was the way Arthur had described it. Maybe it was because I wanted to impress people with my skill and not with my looks so that people actually have something better about me to fawn over. I wanted to show these people that I can do something and that I can impress Mr. President here enough to let me join. Yeah, I guess that's what got me all fired up about this. Besides, photography is my past time, so it's no biggie. Oh, God, I hope he actually appr ―

"Jones." his voice snapped me back into reality. He looked kinda worried, and I noticed it was because I had started mumbling to myself frenziedly.

"Oh, um, sorry..." I cleared my throat. "So, uh, how did I do?" I was so on edge. I needed to know.

"I liked the pictures." he nodded a bit, but I guess that wasn't much, since he probably says that to everyone. I expected him to say 'but...' but it never really came.

"That's it?" I sounded kinda rude or something so I hastily amended for it. "No, I meant, is that all? Didn't I mess up somewhere or whatever?" I looked at him with wide eyes.

He blinked, "Yes, that's all. You followed my rules, didn't you? No post-processing, 4R matte, coloured everything except for the one I asked for black-and-white... You've got better experience than the others who go and apply here who are so used to the fast point-and-shoot, that their pictures come out crappy. Point-and-shoot tactics should only be used for like, say, if you're moving or something, or if you're really experience." he waved his hand. "Some of them submit like, somewhat blurred pictures, because they weren't trained to stay still and focus. They think photography is just like, pointing it and shooting it. It's like the same with guns. You need technique, you need focus, you need practice. If guns were as easy as point and shoot, you would be a piss poor shot." he frowned, going on and on about the importance of photography. Once he gets started, he won't stop.

"You could use a bit more practice, though. You used a digital camera, am I correct?" he asked me again.

"Yeah." I nodded. I owned a DSLR that I got last Christmas, which was the one I used. I asked my parents for a digital camera, and they got me that huge monster of a camera. I'm still trying to figure out what 95% of the buttons and settings do, but I'm kinda scared that it might explode when I do. Too bad I threw the manual away.

"You should try to experiment with the settings more. What kind of camera is it?" he asked again, looking at me with this weird glint in his eyes. Wow, he must really be passionate about photography or something.

I paused for a moment. I _really_ shouldn't have thrown away the manual. I decided that I should just come out clean. "I don't know the exact model, but it's a DSLR, and it's 18 megapixels."

He looked pretty satisfied; the camera's specs probably met his standards. "Normally, one of those semi-DLSRs would do, you know, one of those medium sized digicams? Or a really high-quality lightweight digicam so it's easier to carry around. DLSRs are pretty bulky, but if you can handle carrying it everywhere and if you could really take care of it, then it should be no problem. Take it with you here this Wednesday and we'll take a look."

Wait. "So does that mean I'm in?" I was _this _close to jumping up and down excitedly in front of him.

"Yes. I can't introduce you to the members right now, though. They're all busy at the back." he pointed to the partition behind him with a jab of his thumb. "Wednesday, after class. I'll be expecting you, Jones."

"Please, call me Alfred! Thank you so much, I..." I was at a loss for words, so I just made weird hand gestures, to which Kiku raised his eyebrow at.

"All right, Alfred. You can go along now. Thank you as well." he smiled.

"You're welcome, for whatever it is!" I laughed. "Okay, I'll get going now! Bye, Kiku, see ya this Wednesday!"

At the corner of my eye, I saw Kiku whip out his phone and type something on it, but I was too excited with what just happened to care.

* * *

Finally, something exciting for a change! I went to McDonalds when I got out of the school to grab something to eat on my way home, and I came out of the fast-food restaurant with two hamburgers and a soda.

"The deal's on. I get my share and you get yours." I heard someone say. That's kinda familiar. "I'll be looking forward to it. All right, bye." he chuckled.

I turned towards the voice and saw Arthur, who was half-sitting sideways on a black motorcycle, a helmet hanging on the handle.

"Yo, Artie." I walked over to his motorcycle, sitting down on the cement thing near the restaurant's glass panel.

He looked up, a slight scowl on his face when he looked at me. Welp. Better not call him that until we actually become closer friends.

"Hello. What are you doing here?"

"Getting an afternoon snack to celebrate my approval into the CamClub." I did a little dance, and he looked at me as if I was sub-normal.

"CamCl― Oh. You mean Photography Club." he looked kinda surprised for a second but it melted away. "I've heard."

"Yeah, saying 'photography' is just a mouthful." I sank my teeth into the soft buns of the burger, before ripping it away, munching on the Mickey D's goodness. "Wait, where did you hear it from?" I asked him after I swallowed my bite.

"Kiku. He just texted me."

"Ohh." I nodded in comprehension. "So, what are you doing here?" I asked back.

"Jett asked me to accompany him here. He's inside, buying a burger. Unlike him, I simply cannot stand those things you call burgers. It must be full of preservatives and shit." he gave a little shudder.

"Relax, man! It's not that bad, once you get to try it." I laughed, thinking I must've sounded like Spongebob when he tried to convince Squidward to try a Krabby Patty.

"Ahaha, no thank you." he laughed, though it was kinda fake, before deadpanning.

"Eh, you're no fun." I pouted at him mockingly, but he paid no mind.

"Art!" a voice called out. He had an accent, but it wasn't like Arthur's. Arthur's accent was British but this one is kinda... Aussie. Australian. I get confused sometimes which is which, like, Australia and Austria. I even get it mixed up type it wrong sometimes when I do my reports and stuff.

His hair was like, dark red. I don't know how to describe it accurately, but its color looks like a earthen pot. He was slightly tanned and I wondered if it was natural or not. He also had a band-aid on his nose. I wonder if he got into some fight or something.

Arthur rolled his eyes at the nickname. He probably just detests nicknames in general.

"You ready to go, mate?" the Aussie guy asked in his thick Aussie accent. All the Aussie.

Arthur nodded. "Oh, by the way, Jett, Alfred. Alfred, Jett." he said, pointing to each of us when he said our names. That wasn't really the best rushed introduction but hey.

"Oh, so you're the Alfred he told me about? Yeah, I've seen you around in school! Your face is pretty memorable so I kinda remembered. You're the new photographer, right? Sweet." he laughed and I nodded. The guy's coming off a bit too strong.

"Nice to meet you, too." I said a bit more simply. Wow, that was kinda lame.

"He plays the drums." Arthur pointed out.

"Ah." as if his drum-playing explains everything about his personality. Or maybe that's just a band stereotype.

"Man, Gweneth can finally shut up with all the complaints! She gets ticked off all the time when we need new band pics and she still has to set the self-timer, and it takes us forever to get a decent photo. Besides, it's also nice to have a proper cameraman for the gigs and shows and stuff." he grinned broadly, sitting down on the motorcycle behind Arthur, pulling on the safety helmet thing. "Anyway, we have to go now. See ya soon, Alfred!" said Jett the Earthen Pot-haired Aussie as Arthur revved up the motor, making the engine come to life, riding the motorcycle out into the street. I waved after them, seeing them off.

A tear slowly fell from my right eye and I sniffled. I'll probably miss th―

Wait, wait, wait. Hold the fuck up. What the hell was I talking about? Okay, that got me kinda sidetracked and confused. Huh. That was kinda weird...

I went home after I finished my McDonalds snack, and told my parents that I'm a member of the CamClub now. They were pretty happy, I guess. Maddie told me that at least I'm good for something in this world. I took mock-offense.

"What's the club's President like?" she asked me while we were doing the dishes. Tonight, she was washing, I was wiping.

"Japanese." I answered without thinking.

"I meant his personality, not his heritage or nationality or whatever." she looked at me like I was stupid.

"Oh. Pretty stoic and reserved, kinda strict when it comes to specifications about the photographs, and he's kinda like, crazy about photography. He's a nice guy once you get to know him, though, even if he is kinda odd." I shrugged, giving a half-decent description.

"What do you expect? He's like, the president of your school's photography club. Of course he'd be like, all crazy about it." she handed over another wet plate for me to wipe.

"Yeah, but he suddenly changes and starts being more open and stuff when it's about photos and stuff."

"Hm." she shrugged. "Some people are just like that, I guess."

"Whatever." I finished up wiping a bit after she finished washing the dishes. We both went upstairs to our rooms. I logged into my computer, checking my Facebook account and logging onto Skype. Don't get me wrong, I'm not like one of those people who only go online to play Farmville or something. I just check it because I might have some friend requests or something. I get a lot of them lately. A few hours later after I played Skyrim, I flopped onto my bed and passed out. Getting into the club was really just awesome, even if it had strings attached.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY I AM A DISAPPOINTMENT TO THE WORLD /cries

I know I told you guys I'll put the Slavics here (Belarus, Russia, Ukraine), but it suddenly got quite long that I didn't want to get it all crowded and stuff under one chapter and asdfghjjkll;;

Okay, I will definitely put the Slavics on the next chapter.

If I don't, I give you guys the permission to murder me.

I'm really sorry for the minimal interaction between Arthur and Alfred, as well! I hope I wrote Kiku well enough to make up for it ;A; Wait, no that won't make up for it who am I kidding ;A;

I'll probably update this between Monday-Thursday next week, since I'll be away this weekend. I'll be going to an outing with my distant relatives or something, I don't know.

By the way, if I make like mistakes about how school life goes in this story, I'll just come clean right now that I don't even know how schools in America work like. I know the very basics but that's about it? ;A; I just base it off what I know, what I assume and what I learn off the media. Yeah. =^=;;

So, yeah, I hope you didn't find this really boring and I hope you guys haven't given up agh ;3; I'll post the next chapter when I get it done. Now, I have to go to sleep and it's 12:51 AM and I leave for the outing thing at 9 AM tomorrow. UGH.

Thanks for the reviews, by the way! I love you guys, even if it's only a few of you peeps reviewing ;w; I appreciate it~ /hugs all people who reviewed in the last 2 chapters

'Till next chapter! /flies away


	4. Chapter 4

**Smokes and Punk Clothes**

A USUK fanfic

Warning:

_Rated M for later chapters and also language, just to be safe. High school AU, lots of characters, delinquent!Arthur and popular new-guy!Alfred. Some characters will be gender-bent. Alfred's POV  
_**  
{ …You could really tell that I just copy-paste that shit, huh? }  
**

* * *

I was in the club again, this time with my camera. Kiku was avidly examining it in this weird, creepy manner on his desk. He really loves cameras, huh?

"Uh…Kiku?" I asked tentatively. I didn't want to disturb him from his admiration or anything, but I thought he had something to teach me today?

"Oh! Sorry, Alfred… I was distracted by the camera. You've got a good model here. How much did this cost you?" he turned to me, a glint in his eyes.

"Dunno, I just got it last Christmas as a present." I shrugged. He nodded, looking a bit disappointed. Maybe he wanted to get a camera like this as well. He slung the strap on his neck and turned the camera on, and held it up a bit, before deciding to put it back down again. He then scooted a bit further away from me and turned towards me, pointing the camera at me.

"Smile, Alfred." he commanded, and I looked at him, a bit surprised. I normally didn't like to have my picture taken since I'm always nervous at how the pictures turn out. People say I'm photogenic enough so I don't need to worry, but I just don't know.

"Wh-what? Why are you taking a picture of me?" I sputtered, blinking.

"Just to test the camera." he frowned slightly; he probably thought my reaction was a bit weird.

I hesitantly obliged and smiled for the camera. He pressed the button and I heard it click, my smile fading once it was over. He placed the DSLR back onto his table.

He started teaching me about these functions and stuff like aperture and shutter speed and those kinds of things. I'll admit that I somewhat spaced out in the middle of the lesson/lecture, but I guess I learned a few handy things. He talked a bit faster than usual, like me when I talk about video games and stuff. I just nodded along to show him that I was still listening.

"Oh, sorry, I'd like to examine your camera further," (for what, bombs and hidden weapons?) "you may go to the back and help Natalya clean up some of the things while you wait." Kiku nodded and pointed to the other side of the room which was separated with a partition. I nodded before getting out of my seat and going inside the other side of the clubroom.

Natalya was standing in front of a file cabinet, her fingers meticulously flipping one folder after another, checking its label. She was quite short, but she looked like she could pack a punch. She wore a girly dress that didn't really look right with her unimpressed personality.

"Hey, Nattie." I greeted her as I walked over towards her.

She turned around, looking annoyed already. Geez, what'd I do to her?

"What do you want?" she asked me, her voice dripping with a thick  
Russian accent.

"Kiku sent me back here to help."

"I can manage on my own, so just sit there in one corner and don't bother me." Wow, this chick's got a 3-foot stick up her ass. What's up with her? She turned back to the folders she was attending to before, so I pulled a chair beside her and sat down, watching her.

It was needless to say, boring. I watched her make her way through the thick bunch of folders and paperwork, which made me yawn a bit.

"Hey Nattie?" I spoke up again.

"What is it?" she snapped her head around to look at me, looking a bit more annoyed.

"Did you send this?" I held up the note I received from her somewhat around a week ago. Well, I'm pretty sure it's from her…

"Oh, that." she noticed it immediately, her expression turning less hostile. "What about it?" she had stopped fussing over the contents of the filing cabinet and closed it, giving me her full, undivided attention.

"I… Uh, I just wanted to say that you're welcome and that you shouldn't let those people get to you with their comments and stuff. They're just biased." I shook my head, frowning a bit.

"I never said I let them get to me…" she frowned and I felt kinda stupid. So she was okay with them bad-mouthing her family? "I don't care if they think we act quite weird, as long as they stay away from my siblings. I know Ivan holds out pretty well, but my sestra – sister, I mean – she gets teased a lot. I don't want anyone bothering her." she frowned, as if the slightest mention of it pissed her off.

I looked at her a bit sympathetically. "Sorry..." I mumbled. "But... Wow, you're a nice little sister..." I tried to compliment her, but she only raised her eyebrows at me, half-amused. "What do they tease your sister about?" I asked curiously.

"Double D's." she bluntly said, scowling a bit. "Everyone tells her it must be fake or whatever, and they all give her a hard time because of it. They call her pretty bad names." she didn't elaborate, but I could only imagine what kind of harsh insults were thrown towards her. I felt sorry for her sister, really.

"That must be hard..." I mumbled, having nothing else better to say. "Ah, well, she's lucky she's got a good sister like you who'll defend her, huh?" I grinned at her proudly, but she just scowled.

"Don't talk to me like I'm 10 or something. Anyway, I just thanked you for not agreeing to those girls who talked about us like that. Even if they actually were talking about my brother and I instead of my sister. Still, I hate hearing those kinds of stuff."

"Does your brother get bad-mouthed behind his back as well?"

"Yeah, they keep talking about how creepy he is and how he's probably some kind of weird kid who's into weird fetishes and crap. Some even say he probably buries dead bodies in his yard, but of course that's not true. Ivan doesn't really mind them, but I do. I just..." she paused, breathing heavily. "I don't like gossip, in general. Gossips, bullying, talking behind people's backs... It's despicable."

I nodded in agreement. I hated those kinds of things as well.

"So yeah, I guess my thanking you was more of just, 'thanks for not being a prejudiced asshole'." she shrugged, leaning against the cabinet.

"Huh. Well, you're welcome then." I chuckled and leaned back against my chair. "I guess you're pretty okay, Nattie. I'm glad I wasn't biased against you." I laughed jokingly.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I don't think you'd want to get on my bad side. You'll certainly regret it." she said nonchalantly, despite her words.

"Really? Um... Okay, then." I nodded slowly, a bit creeped out.

"Alfred, come here, please." Kiku popped from the side of the partition, calling me out.

"Coming." I stood up and put back the chair, catching a glimpse of Natalya's relieved sigh as I walked out of that area.

* * *

"A party, huh?" I was seated beside Liz and Maria again. They had come to my table uninvited, and started blabbering to me about a party in Anneliese's house. Anneliese was a rich kid, like I suspected, so their house was undoubtedly a mansion and can hold a party. I bet Maria and Liz forced her into this, because I highly doubt Anneliese likes throwing parties.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" she urged me, grinning madly. I'm not so sure about this, really.

"I'll probably be the only freshman there..." I laughed nervously, as if that excuse would deter them. Of course it won't, not when they prey on me like a hungry pack of wolves. Not in a good way, of course.

Elizaveta waved her hand dismissively, "Well, so what if you're the only freshman there? It's not as if anyone would care!" she laughed.

Maria thought for a while. "Hmm... Maybe you could bring someone with you, you know, like a date! Just so you won't feel so out of place." she grinned cheekily at me before biting into her bacon sandwich, waiting for my answer.

Is she crazy? A date? What kind of message would that send out to people, geez? I wanted to yell that at her, but I didn't.

"I'll think about it." I nodded instead. Who could I take? I mean, Kiku doesn't look like a party-person, and I'm pretty sure no one would really want Natalya around... I daren't even ask Arthur, and Francis would most likely go there anyway...

"Great! See ya this Friday, 8 PM!" she and Liz stood up and left looking quite cheerful, giving me a half-assed wave as they went.

They sounded as if I actually agreed to this. I sighed, morosely taking a bit out of my grilled-cheese sandwich. You're the only one who understands me, oh, grilled-cheese sandwich.

* * *

"You got invited to a party?" Dad repeated incredulously over dinner.

"Yeah, these two high school senior girls did." I said nonchalantly. Maddie's eyes were glinting with glee. Yes, I could see that even with just a side glance.

"I don't know..." my mom shook her head uncertainly. She's always been the protective one between her and dad. She's a hopeless worry-wart.

"I think he should go, it'll be good experience for him." I heard Dad say to Mom. I secretly wished my mom would win in this round of decision-making so that I had a legit reason not to go.

"Oh, all right." she conceded, to my disbelief. Damn. I almost begged them not to let me go. "Just be home by 12, okay?" she said sternly before taking a bite from her food.

"Nice one, Al. You got invited by the seniors." Maddie snickered at me in a hush.

"Yeah, whatever." I groaned a bit, resuming the consumption of my dinner.

* * *

It was Friday night, and we were going to the party. I took Zoe along with me, since she also heard about it and wanted to go. Her brother Isaak was driving us there. He seemed like a nice guy, just not one you could easily run a conversation with. Zoe was sitting in the front seat and I was at the back. She hummed a song on the radio, while Isaak's arm was out the window, a smoke between his fingers.

"Where was it, again?" Isaak asked me. This was the third time he asked. I'm kinda scared we'll all get lost or something now.

"Wait, hang on for a moment." I replied, whipping out my phone and texting Maria.

"Take the second left then a right, the house is white and has a lot of lights on." That's what she replied.

Isaak nodded and did as I told him to. Minutes later, we arrived in front of Anneliese's house. It was really impressive and huge. I wondered if her parents didn't mind her having a party here.

Music was blaring inside, and I could see silhouettes of people dancing through the window's curtain. Zoe and I got out of the car, Isaak telling both of us to just give him a call when we needed to go back home. He's a pretty awesome guy.

"Come on, let's go!" Zoe excitedly said, nudging me with her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Come on." I snapped out of that trance thing while I watched Isaak's car drive away.

We walked up the front door and knocked. We waited for a while, but no one answered. We tried the doorbell and knocking again, but the music was too loud for them to hear it. I grew annoyed of it so I called Liz.

"Liz, we're here already, no one's opening the door for us!" I said to her.

"Oh, sorry! I'll get the door for ya." she hung up and moments later we were let in. I could see some of the people grinning at me and Zoe. They probably think she was my girlfriend or something. Shit...

"So, I'll introduce you to some friends of mine..." Liz started to talk rapidly, and Zoe was just tagging along behind me like a lost kid.

"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there. What did you say your name was?" she asked Zoe sweetly.

"Zoe. I'm also a freshman." she smiled a bit.

"Ah. Okay. Well, I'll show you around as well." she nodded.

"Liz, hey." a black guy approached us. His hair was tied into a ponytail and he was quite plump and short.

"Oh, Marco, hey." Liz nodded. "This is Alfred and this is Zoe." she pointed to us.

"Cool. Name's Marco. Drinks are in the back." he grinned at us before he went off.

This is getting a bit confusing. See, this is why I don't go to parties.

Zoe and Liz went upstairs to play a few games, while I stayed downstairs. I took a can of coke from the drinks area and opened it. I sat in a corner and drank the softdrink, hoping that the time would pass and no one would notice me.

A few hours later and it was 11 in the evening. I was still seated in the corner, biding time. A few people came to say hi, and I even saw Jett there.

A person stumbled into the living room and leaned against the door, looking wasted. I took a closer look and to my surprise it was Arthur. Wow, I didn't know he was into parties and stuff.

"Arthur!" I called out, beckoning him. Bad idea.

"Oh, Alfred, hi—" he hiccupped, and then smiled. "What's up?" another hiccup.

"Nothing much, really." I shrugged, letting him sit on the chair next to mine.

"That's cool." he laughed, taking a swig out of his plastic cup before sitting beside me. He smelled of booze and sweat. Maybe someone spiked the drinks. None of us here were even legal. Well, except for Anneliese's parents.

"Dude, are you drunk?" I casually asked with a laugh. He turned to me; his expression was dopey.

"Uh-huh, I guess." he shrugged.

I looked warily at him. He seemed to be quite an awful drunk. He leaned his head on my shoulder, and I gave a startled jolt.

"Arthur?"

He hiccupped.

"Alfred, I'm sleepy. Can you take me back to my place?" he whined, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Uh... Well... I don't have a car, and I don't even know where your house is. Sorry, bro." I apologized.

"Oh, well. I guess I'll drive myself home." he chuckled, hiccuping again.

"What? No way are you driving while you're drunk!" I protested, looking very fearful.

"I'm fine," he groaned, drawing out the 'i' in 'fine' longer than necessary. "I'll be okay. So, yeah, I'll go now, haha." he grinned goofily, standing up. His knees wobbled a bit and he almost lost his balance and fell, but I grabbed his hand just in time.

"You can't go, Arthur, you're drunk!" I exclaimed. He turned around, laughing. "'M fine, really." he waved it off dismissively.

"No." I sternly said.

"Aww, okay, I'll stay." he groaned and plopped back onto his seat.

"Good." I let his hand go carefully, as if he'll make a run for it if I let my guard down.

A few minutes passed and he turned to me, asking, "Alfred, is that blonde girl really your girlfriend?"

I was caught off-guard, so I stuttered a bit. "Wh-what? No, she's not, what made you think so?"

"Well, duh, you took her to this party. Of course it would look that way." he shrugged. "So she isn't?" he asked again just to check.

"No." I answered more surely now.

"Oh, okay." he shrugged and pulled my arm, making me lean down as he harshly placed his lips against mine.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Whoop whoop guys, I got grounded again! This calls for a semi-hiatus of sorts. Oh, and it's also 'back to school' for me! I hope this isn't boring you guys or anything, really. Anyway, thanks for the reviews last chapter!

By the way, Marco = Cuba in case you guys were wondering. Minor appearance.

Could you guys send suggestions on which character you would like to see in the story? Much appreciated~

BY THE WAY, THIS IS SO SHORT. I WAS ALL LIKE, "HOLY SHIT" BECAUSE FROM 3000 TO 4000 TO 5000, THIS CHAPTER IS JUST 2500+ AND I AM HIGHLY UNIMPRESSED.

The next update might be a little slow since I am grounded and on semi-hiatus and all. Ugh.


	5. Chapter 5

**Smokes and Punk Clothes**

**A USUK fanfic**

**Warning: **_Rated M for later chapters and also language, just to be safe. High school AU, lots of characters, delinquent!Arthur and popular new-guy!Alfred. Some characters will be gender-bent. Alfred's POV_

* * *

"What the―?" I exclaimed as soon as he pulled back. What the fuck was that for?

"Hm? But you said blondie wasn't your girlfriend so I assumed it was okay." he looked as stunned as I was, but for different reasons.

"Assumed?" I repeated incredulously. Well, it's true that she's not my girlfriend and that I'm not dating anyone right now, but, "E-Even if I'm not dating anyone, how does that make it right for you to kiss me like that?"

"You didn't like it?"

It is impossible to have a straight conversation with him. No pun intended...

"That's not the point, dude!" I face-palmed, sighing exasperatedly. "Look, forget it... let's just forget anything ever happened." I said. I knew it would be hard for me to forget, of course. I guess it would be easy for him, since he's drunk.

He shrugged, as if to say, 'Whatever'. He leaned back into his seat and slowly fell asleep due to tiredness and intoxication.

We were lucky Arthur's bandmates were with him, so they were able to take them home. I entrusted him to them, at least they weren't as drunk as Arthur.

"Alfreeeeed..." a low groan came from my right as I saw Arthur and his bandmates off.

"Whoa, Zoe! You're drunk too?" I turned and asked her in disbelief. Am I the only one who didn't drink anything alcoholic tonight? I mean, most if not all of us are probably not even legal yet!

"I lost in a dare..." she looked quite dizzy, stumbling forward a bit. She caught the sleeve of my jacket to prevent her from falling.

"Give me your phone..." I sighed, holding my hand out.

"Here..." she shut her eyes for a while, reaching into her bag before giving me her phone. "Fuck, everything is spinning..."

I took it from her, and dialled Isaak. Damn, how would he react when he finds out Zoe got drunk...?

"Zoe?" Isaak answered after a few rings. His voice was deep and it sounded a bit worried.

"Isaak, it's me, Alfred. Can you come pick us up now?"

"Oh, sure. I'll be right there." he hung up, and I led Zoe outside to get some fresh air.

We both sat on the curb, and I let her lean on my arm for now. She was semi-conscious, like flitting in and out of sleep. I think she'll have a horrible hangover the next morning.

So much for a fun party. I sighed. It was okay, I guess, but it wasn't as fun as Maria and Liz advertised. I spotted a few cigarettes on the cement beneath our feet, flicking it with my index finger out of boredom.

"Alfred, Zoe." Isaak called to us from his car, the windows rolled down. "Get in."

I nudged her awake, and she stirred groggily before getting up on her feet and stumbling towards the car door. I sat in the backseat again, shutting the door with a sigh.

"Thanks, Isaak."

He gave me a slight nod. "What happened to her?" he asked with a jab of his thumb in her direction.

"She said she lost in a dare."

"Heh. This is her first time drinking so I guess she'll have a terrible hangover tomorrow." Isaak snickered. I thought he was going to be quite annoyed or pissed off, like a normal big brother or something?

"Is she going to get scolded when she gets home?"

"Nah, I'll probably just give her a lecture tomorrow. Dad doesn't really give two shits so," he shrugged.

He dropped me off in front of my house and I thanked him before he left. I walked up to our front door and fished for the house keys in my jeans' pocket, pushing the key into its keyhole. When I twisted it, it made a little clicking sound. I went inside and tried to stay silent, closing and locking the door behind me. I removed my shoes and went upstairs, when I saw some light flooding out of my sister's room.

"Maddie?" I opened her door, to find her awake and on her laptop.

"Oh, wait a minute," she said to no one in particular, before she took off her headphones. "Hi, Alfred. You're back, and just in time, I see." she smiled a bit.

"Just in time for what?" I asked cluelessly.

"Mom gave you a curfew of 12, right?"

"Oh, that. Anyway, what are you doing up this late?" I stepped into her room and closed the door behind me. I'm secretly glad she and I are in good terms, which means I can just go into her room whenever I feel like it without her sending me away like most teenaged girls do.

"I'm talking to someone." she replied, which explains the headphones and the talking to no one in particular thing.

"Cool. Who is it?"

"It's my friend, Mei. She's from Taiwan." she grinned and turned the laptop to face me. "Mei, say hi, it's my brother, Alfred." she told the girl on the screen and unplugged the headphones so I could hear her. She looked about the same age as my sister, and distinctly Asian.

"Hi!" she waved at me, grinning. I waved back, "Hey." Maddie turned the laptop around to face her again.

"I'm gonna go to sleep now, I'm kinda tired." I turned and opened the door again.

"Okay, good night Alfred." she said without looking up, plugging the headphones again.

* * *

"Alfred, Alfred!" Liz and Maria went up to me while I was getting things from my locker between classes, grinning and snickering madly.

"What is it?" I turned around, blinking. They seemed pretty excited.

They tried to say something, but instead they shoved a photograph in front of me.

I wanted to run away the moment I saw it.

"What the fuck?" I exclaimed loudly, slamming my locker door shut angrily.

"This is you, right? And... And that one's Kirkland from the 11th grade?" Maria shook my shoulder with one (manicured) hand, grinning and asking just to make sure.

"Wha― where did you get this?" I asked incredulously. I cannot believe this.

"Someone gave it to us! We don't remember who, though... They gave it to us at the party and we were quite pissed back then..." Liz answered, looking quite unsure.

"Shit. Give me that!" I snatched it from them. "Are there any other copies?"

"Who knows?" was all the albino girl answered me before the pair walked away, their grins plastered onto their faces as they walked away.

It was a picture of me and Arthur, kissing.

"Shitshitshitshiiiiiit... Oh God..." I groaned, banging my head on my locker. I really wished I was invisible that time.

* * *

'Alfred'

'And'

'Arthur'

'Sitting'

'In a Party'

'K-I-S-S-I-N-G!'

I gritted my teeth, crumpling all 6 notes in fury, tossing them to the trash bin near me. The student next to me just idly passed it along a few seconds ago, and whoever actually did this better say their prayers because they just earned themselves a ticket to the Pearly Gates. Not in a good way.

News spread like wildfire around the school. I can't even take 10 steps from my locker without being looked at funny. Seriously, who even cares about these things?

I heard someone behind me snicker, and I immediately turned around, my face set into a deep scowl. Behind me was a tall, slightly chubby student, probably a year older. He had light blonde hair and his eyes were somewhat violet-ish, and he wore this awfully tacky scarf (not that I knew anything about fashion for me to call something 'tacky').

"What the fuck was that for?" I hissed in a low voice.

"Oh, hey there, kissy boy!" the student behind me who had snickered made a kissing face mockingly.

"I didn't kiss him, okay? _He _was the one who kissed me!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I guess he kissed you but you were the one leaning down." he had this highly insulting smirk, and I glared daggers at him.

"What? He pulled me, okay? It's not like I wanted it!" I retorted defiantly.

"Pucker up, Alfred." he smirked and made a kissy face again. "Will you give me a kiss as well?" he taunted me. I was _this _close to breaking the asshole's face.

"I think your lips will meet something else." I growled menacingly, suddenly standing up and grabbing the front of his shirt.

"Ooh, I'm scared!" he made a fake cry.

Everyone was looking at us now, even the teacher. I didn't really give a fuck that moment.

It was the end of the line ― it wasn't just him, it was also everybody else. Everyone's remarks and comments got to me, and this unfortunate little fucker just taunted me when I was almost at my limit. I punched him hard in the center of his face, feeling blood on my knuckles. Shit, I probably shouldn't have aimed there...

Suddenly, his mood changed. He wasn't taunting anymore, he was actually quite pissed off, because he retaliated by launching himself at me, causing me to crash into my chair. Needless to say, he weighed a freaking ton and that landing hurt my back. Oh, and my right cheekbone as well, because he punched it, too.

"Boys, boys, stop it this instant!" the teacher came in between us, stopping me and the other guy from potentially murdering one another. I was just so annoyed at this point that all the blood rushed to my head. We stopped fighting. I guess it's more of because we might hit her, than because we would get sent to the principal's office.

Both of us were issued detention from tomorrow until Friday, and our parents were informed about the incident.

"Snitches..." muttered the tall kid. I later learned that he was Ivan Braginski, Natalya's older half-brother. I wonder if she would mind that I broke Ivan's nose... Probably not.

"Ivan! I heard from Lili what happened! Are you okay?" a big-boobed chick went up to Ivan, grabbing his shoulders to make him face her properly. I assumed she was Yekaterina, since the description of her fitted quite well.

"_S-sestra_, I'm okay, really..." he lowered his head a bit, refusing to face her. He looked a bit softer and kinder when he was with his sister. She looked like she was about to cry. She must really care about him.

I lightly touched the bruise his punch made on my face, the contact stinging it a bit. "Ow..." I hissed under my breath. Even if the nurse put an ice pack over it, it still kinda hurt.

Yekaterina ushered Ivan down the hall, fussing over him and his huge, injured nose, courtesy of Mr. Alfred F. Jones. We will see each other again in detention. I just hope I won't receive another "collectors' item" (a.k.a bruise) for my face when we do.

* * *

I went inside the detention room, where the teacher who was supposed to keep an eye on us was just sleeping on his desk with his coat draped over him.

Ivan was already seated on a chair to the side, glancing towards me as I walked into the room. I saw Arthur seated at the back, and another guy seated at the front.

I sat next to Arthur. I guess that would be better than sitting next to Ivan.

"What're you in here for?" I asked him as I took a seat next to him. He raised an eyebrow at me when I did, as if questioning my sanity as I sat down.

"They caught me smoking again. This is the best they could do, actually. Detention, I mean." he answered stoically.

"Why is that?"

"Well, my parents donate a whole lot to the school so I guess they couldn't really do more like expel me or something." he smirked, looking satisfied. _His parents must be rich_, I thought.

"How do you even buy those cigarettes? I mean, you're not even legal to buy those." I blinked confusedly.

"Ah, well, it's my brother's, so I just nick one off his shelf. He doesn't really mind." he shrugged as if it was no big deal. Well, to him, it probably wasn't.

"Ah." I nodded.

"How about you, why are you here?" he asked me, highly amused.

"Got into a fist fight with him." I grumbled, pointing to Ivan who was sitting next to the window, looking out into the sky idly.

"What happened?"

"Kept calling me a bunch of names and made kissy faces at me. He teased me about that little incident at the party last Friday night."

"What incident at the party?" he seemed clueless and innocent. It was all over the school and he was _part of this_. HOW COULD HE NOT KNOW?

"Don't play dumb with me! That incident!" I repeated, glaring at him, coming off as annoyed.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!"

I did say we would forget the whole thing ever happened. If it was another situation, I would have been happier that he forgot about it. But this cannot be put to rest now.

I fished inside my bomber jacket's inner pocket for the picture I received yesterday from the girls. I slammed it onto his desk, "That one!"

He looked absolutely shocked. Honestly shocked. "O-oh come on, it's obviously Photoshopped!" he turned to me in disbelief.

"Do you think I would joke about this? I mean, thanks to you and your drunkenness, I am more popular than before, and not for a good reason! Oh, and let us not forget how it also got me into a fist-fight, earned me a bruise on my cheek, landed me into detention and made my parents scold me for an hour about it last night!" I blabbed out, sounding awfully resentful.

"Well, I'm so sorry I had no control of myself that night because I was _drunk_!" he retorted sarcastically.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have drank any alcohol, if you knew you couldn't hold your liquor well!" I snapped back.

"How the hell was I supposed to know this would happen? Anyway, the stupidity of your action after the incident and your inability to control your temper should not be held against me!"

He was right. It was my fault for getting angry and for getting myself where I am right now, but it didn't make me less annoyed at him. I sighed. "Look, whatever, forget it. That kiss meant nothing anyway." I shook my head. I saw Ivan avidly watching this exchange from the corner of my eye. That bastard.

"Yeah, it didn't mean anything." he nodded. We both fell silent. I knew it would be hard for me to forget, and now that I showed him a picture, I think he would find it hard to erase it from his mind, as well.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I cannot make two people fight verbally, haha. I suck at comebacks, honestly.

I hope this is a bit longer than the last one, and I hope it's still interesting enough? Yeah.

Thanks for all the reviews, guys! I really appreciate it. Feel free to correct me with anything and suggest things~ eue

By the way, as of today, I am two school years away from graduating high school. OH GOOOOD.


	6. Chapter 6

**Smokes and Punk Clothes**  
**A USUK fanfic**

_{ Wow, sorry for the super-late update. Welp. OTL }_

* * *

Ah, well, at least detention was over after three days. I was walking to a certain room on the third floor after classes when I didn't have detention anymore, where Arthur had told me to go after a weird phone call. I swear, it had me all confused because he just called all of a sudden to tell me to go to a room. No explanations, he just hung up.

I went around a corner then looked everywhere for any signs of life in this floor because everyone has already gone down or home and almost no one was on this floor. Then I saw them, Arthur's band, standing in a room with their instruments, busily preparing to start. Orange light from the sunset outside the windows filtered into the room, hitting the sides of the room. I took a slow step inside the room and cleared my throat, making Arthur look up. He didn't look anywhere near delighted to see me, although, he didn't look pissed off by my appearance either. "Hello." He nodded and cocked his head to the side, gesturing to the bench to the far left of the room. I sat down and watched them do their thing.

"So, Artie, what am I here for?" I grinned, putting a leg over the other while relaxing on the long, wooden seat.

His huge brows frowned at me. "Stop calling me that. Anyway, I called you here so that you can fulfil your end of the bargain. Well, some of your end."

"Oh. You mean the photographer thing?" I took my camera out of my bag and shook it playfully. "Well, lucky day for you and your band, I have it right here so we could get it started."

"Good." For a fraction of a second, I thought the corner of his mouth twitched up in a sort of smile like he was pleased with me or something, but it disappeared too quickly for me to notice. "It'd be beneficial to you if you get acquainted with everyone now." He added.

"This is Jett, you already know him," he pointed to Jett who waved his hand at me from the back of the room, "Gwyneth," he then pointed to the blonde girl in highlights who I saw two weeks ago, dragging Arthur away from me in the middle of our conversation, "and William." He pointed to another guy whose hair was styled quite weirdly. Blonde, with large curls on each end. He had a kind face, and a nice voice to boot, and I don't even know if he should be in a punk-rock band.

"Hi, you guys." I grinned a bit awkwardly and waved.

Gwyneth smiled at Arthur, like she was highly pleased with him. Then she turned to me. "I remember you. You're the pretty boy Artie here was talking to before along the hallway. I'm sorry for being so rude. Welcome to the club, twyllo." I could feel her green eyes piercing into me, scrutinizing me in her head.

"Uh, thanks?" I said with an unsure smile, and Arthur looked kinda disappointed at Gwyneth. I wonder why?

Arthur told me the basics and what I should mostly take pictures of, and what angles should I take the pictures. After the briefing, I started taking pics of them preparing, then I took a video of them playing their recently composed song called "8-bit".

_It's as simple as 8-bit_  
_Did you know, oh_  
_The sounds of techno_  
_Make it go, oh_  
_That's the way, the way_  
_My heart beats all the time_

_Make the electricity flow_  
_Attraction like a magnetic pull_  
_I can hear my 8-bit heart_  
_Beating whole_  
_It's the way, the way_  
_Our heartbeats sync like rhymes_

I gotta say, they play good for an amateur band. I wonder why they haven't stepped up their game. Arthur's voice, though... It's really different from the way he talks. He holds nothing back when he sings, gives it his all, yet he still makes it look effortless. His voice is just really awesome and nice to listen to.

When they had finished, I showed Arthur the shots I have taken. He nodded in approval, saying that I was good with the camera and that the shots were good. From my experience with him, he's the kind who rarely compliments, but I made sure to cherish it.

"What do you guys think?" Arthur asked the other members who were now disassembled from their band and sitting around everywhere. They had seen the pictures earlier before Arthur talked to me.

William smiled kindly. "They were really nice!"

"They were cool! You've got potential, kid." Jett grinned.

Gwyneth shrugged with a light sneer. "It wasn't really that huge of a success, but it was fair enough." Arthur looked at her with a light frown creasing his eyebrows.

"Gwyneth, what's wrong with you today? You've been acting like a huge arsehole." Arthur did nothing to hold back his own words towards his sister, just said those things to her ever so simply without any hesitation. Gwyneth looked at him, appalled by his choice of vocabulary, much more towards her.

"You dare talk to me like that, Arthur?" She scowled at him. "Like it's any of your business how I have been acting today."

"Guys..." William said sternly yet tentatively, but Jett told him not to intervene.

"You've been taking your bitchy attitude out on Alfred here, of course it's my business! He's my guest, after all." I didn't know if I should be honored that he's defending me, or if I should feel something else right now because of the situation.

"Am I, now? Well, I couldn't really blame myself for being so annoyed at the Yank — he's not much of a good catch, huh, Artie?"

"What?" He stood up angrily. "I'll have you know that Alfred's a really good photographer and a really nice person, if that's what your concern is about!"

I could see Jett in the corner with a sly smirk. "Give it up, Gwyneth. Eyebrows here is defending Four-eyes. He's not going to go for you."

I bristled at the sound of a somewhat-insult. "Four-eyes?" I repeated, but he didn't hear me, because Arthur was looking confusedly at Jett now.

"Go for her? What in the world do you mean?" He asked incredulously.

"Haven't ya heard?" His grin turned from devious to outright devilish. "Gwyneth's got a high school girl crush on wee Artie here!"

"Jett..." William whispered in a warning tone, but he wasn't heard either. Gwyneth looks like she's hanging on a thread before she falls and explodes. Her cheeks were fully pink with disbelief and outrage.

"Jett!" She shrieked, surprising all of us. "You—" She cut herself off to hurl a book at Jett while Arthur just looked completely flabbergasted at the revelation.

"She has a crush on me?" Arthur's eyes were as wide as saucers, "But Gwyneth's my _sister_! Are you daft, Jett?" Even he couldn't believe it.

"Well, no one said it wasn't allowed." Jett shrugged before another object thrown at him with violent force. Man, that girl sure could get violent...

"You fucking _idiot_!" She yelled, striding up to Jett to punch him in the gut. Holy crap.

"_Gwyneth_!" Arthur exclaimed. "I've had enough of this!"

Gwyneth turned, looking utterly humiliated, before storming out of the room.

No one dared to move a muscle. "We should just leave her alone for a while..." William spoke up, and there was a silent agreement.

"I-I'm sorry about her attitude towards you today..." Arthur said quietly to me. That was actually the first time I've seen him so confused, unsure and just plain dumbfounded about everything.

"Hm? Oh... Um... It's okay, no real harm done." I smiled good-naturedly.

Arthur gulped, nodded and then excused himself to go outside.

* * *

"Well, I guess it's all okay now." Jett sat down next to me on the bench out in the school courtyard with a can of Pepsi in his hand. I scooted a bit more to the edge to give him more space.

"Hey, what was that really about?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh, it's just how Gwyneth has a crush on Arthur. She admitted to me one afternoon that she was deadly jealous of you and stuff." He shrugged and laughed; the idea was ridiculous. "She's actually had a crush on him since forever. No matter how hard she tried to move on, she still comes back to him."

"What? Why would she be jealous of me? I'm a guy, it's not like I'm gonna steal her away from him." I shook my head and chuckled.

"Eh? But you could if you wanted to. Arthur's as straight as a circle." Jett winked and my eyebrows shot up.

"Wha— You mean he's gay?" I said in disbelief.

"Shh, now. Don't tell anyone. But yeah." Jett laughed again, shrugged and studied my face carefully.

I couldn't really say anything. He didn't seem like that. "Is he really...? Wow. Who'd have known, huh?"

We both sat there in silence before Arthur approached us, an annoyed Gwyneth in tow.

"I told you it wasn't necessary—"

"I will not have any of it, and you go apologise right—"

"You're such a bleeding wanking fruity piece of shit, really, Arthur!" She hissed at him in an undertone.

Arthur ignored her pointedly and took another step towards me, motioning his sister to follow him.

"Alfred, I'm sorry for causing you trouble earlier. It wasn't supposed to be that way especially with your first experience with us in our group." He nodded at Gwyneth who grumbled before looking at me. Her words would certainly be less than sincere.

"I'm sorry for flipping out on you but yeah, I like Arthur and so what? You lay off him, asshole, and we're cool, got that?" She sneered down on me, and I raised a brow at her. Well, so much for an apology.

"Um... Apology accepted?"

"You're such a retard, Gwynnie. Since when was that a proper apology?" Arthur chided.

"Don't you EVER call me that again!" Gwyneth hissed at him, green eyes glowing eerily.

Jett and I watched and laughed as the pair argued. They would have made such a nice couple who'd have lots of hatesex. If only they weren't actually siblings and possibly produce mentally-retarded children. We talked a bit more and before I knew it, I had to go and another day was over.

* * *

Arthur told me over chat (he had added me on Facebook one day) that he was still pretty sorry about how things turned out for me and that he was going to make it up to me by taking me out to McDonalds later.

Can you believe it? Stuffy McStuffy British Eyebrows is going to take me to an American fast-food establishment that serves "piles of tempting grease, cholesterol and fats". What has the world come to?!

I accepted the invitation quicker than you can say Ronald, and soon we were on our way there.

"McDonalds? Seriously, man? Thought you hated the food from here." I laughed, walking alongside him as we went into the establishment that smelled of fast food, grease and people.

"Well, yes, I do, but seems like the shit has grown on me. I find myself missing it from time to time." He shrugged and we got some food, causing some hold-up in the line because I was indecisive about what to order. "Jett goes here all the time for a quick snack — lad gets hungry quite often, so he finds this shithole convenient. I usually tag along with him so I get to eat the stuff from here too, albeit involuntarily."

We sat at one of those booths, and my butt just naturally sank in that nice, soft, plush couch. I opened my quarter pounder's wrapper. "Ahh..." I closed my eyes and took a bite of my burger, teeth sinking into the layers of buns, meat, vegetables, cheese, condiments and all that until it hit buns and teeth again. Delicious. My one true love.

Arthur's eyebrows raised questioningly at me, his facial expression between amusement and disapproval.

"What? This shit just tastes so good, I had to moan."

"Alfred, we're in a public place." He looked around, cheeks flushing pink at the off-chance that someone might have heard Alfred's inappropriate eating.

"Don't care." I resumed eating my burger, each bite with inappropriate sounds. From time to time, I took a sip of my Coke, and Arthur would just look at my face closely while eating his large fries.

Once I was done, I wiped the mustard and ketchup from my lips with a quick sweep of my tongue. "Thanks Artie!" I grinned at him.

"It was nothing." He shrugged modestly.

Luckily for me (aaand, maybe not for him?), it was my day off and I was real bored so I spent my entire day either tailing behind Arthur or leading him to random places around. We didn't really care if we got lost; we just walked and walked and walked and walked everywhere.

Arthur's shoulder collided with someone else's who was going the opposite direction in the middle of our walk, and he hastily apologized, like it was an auto-response. But when Arthur turned and saw the guy properly, his expression turned unpleasant.

"Oh. Emil. Hello." He greeted curtly.

"Arthur?" The guy raised an eyebrow. His hair was platinum blonde and he wore a dress shirt with dark jeans, like any normal guy would. Nothing too remarkable or special about him, really. The guy had an accent as well. What the heck is this even, United Nations Country (look, I made an oxymoron! Ain't I smart?)?!

The guy turned around properly and looked kinda unamused. "What brings you to this part of town? I don't really see you around here. Wouldn't expect you either, especially with Jones."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I asked heatedly, frowning at the guy.

"Whoa, calm down. I just meant that you two seemed unlikely to be seen walking together in the park, y'know? Don't get so fussed up." Emil rolled his eyes. "I thought you go for the more wilder boys, Arthur?"

Arthur looked at him with wide, shocked eyes. Stammering, he managed to choke out, "Wh-what in the world are you implying, you arse?"

"Dunno, maybe the fact that you get around with the bad boys more." The Icelandic teen shrugged nonchalantly, while Arthur was looking like he was hanging on a strand of thread.

I frowned and looked from one side to another, puzzled, like watching a tennis game without knowing what was really going on. What's the kid tryin' to imply? 'Get around'? Damn, hope that doesn't mean anything weird now...

"I most certainly do not; what made you even accuse me of such slanderous lies?!" Arthur's nostrils flared, green eyes boring into the offender. I've noticed that he uses bigger words when he's aggravated.

"Alfred's kinda soft, if you ask me. Maybe your taste in men mellowed down a bit?" Emil raised a brow, looking as if he had got Arthur cornered. Okay, now I'm pretty damned sure he meant something else by that. Taste in men? Wow, that kinda says something else.

"Me? Soft?" I piped up, a bit offended, but the two chose to ignore me.

"Are you provoking me, Emil?" Arthur sneered.

"Maybe."

"You're really asking for it, you ice douche."

Okay, seriously, that was quite confusing. And it escalated quickly.

"Seven in the evening, this Saturday. You know where." Emil gave a flicker of a smirk towards Arthur, before turning away and leaving.

Moments after, when Emil's back was still in our line of vision among the other people in the park but out of earshot, Arthur was sneering at him.

"Who is he? Guy seems familiar, but I can't place him."

"Sophomore. Icelandic bloke with a hard-to-pronounce last name. Stelisson? Steilsoon? I hardly even bother trying to say it, myself."

I looked at him with a confused expression. "You don't seem to be on good terms with him."

"No shit, Sherlock." He rolled his eyes and groaned exasperatedly. "He's the main singer of our rival band. His band has three other members: a Junior named Tino, his brother, also a Junior, named Lukas, and some Asian from his year named Leon. They play around more on the rock and metal part of music, whereas my band's on the punk-rock.

"Emil is actually a really quiet person in real life, introverted, a wallflower, if you may. He only actively participates in things related to his band, or things like licorice and puffins. Not sure why that, exactly, but in everything else, he is passive. He does seem to enjoy picking on me and my bandmates, though."

I nodded understandingly, but my face was still in a frown. "What's that he said about you getting around and your taste in men?"

"As if I wasn't obvious enough, I'm as straight as a circle. Let's leave it at that." Arthur smiled a bit, not really a happy or a smug smile, just a small, 'okay' smile.

"A-ah." I didn't really mind that Arthur was gay (at least, that's what I think he meant?), I mean, I'm his friend and all, but I was still quite shocked that he 'got around' a lot. "That's cool, man." I grinned at him.

"...You think it's something to be amused about?" He frowned deeply, and he probably thought I was mocking him. I hastily amended.

"No, no!" I shook my head frantically, "I meant, it's cool, it's okay. I'm glad you told me that, y'know? Coming out to someone isn't that easy."

"Please don't think it's anything special — it's not like you're the first to know. Hell, I'm quite surprised you never knew until now." He looked at me as if I were a moron, and frankly, that's how I felt right now.

"Oh, s-sorry. But yeah, it's cool." I patted him on the back. "What's he saying about seven in the evening, this Saturday, though?"

"Another face-off between our bands. Lukas and Gwyneth hate each other with a passion, and they're probably the only ones who take this more seriously than Emil. Emil thinks it's entertaining, though, so he still initiates it. Their band's won three times in a row now." He scowled as he spoke.

I suddenly had an idea. "Do you want me to go with you? I could be, uh, moral support plus photographer."

"I don't want you to, but you have to. Let's just say these show-down things, whatever you call them, don't end nicely. Wouldn't want you getting involved in a lot of shit."

"Really? Whatever, I'm okay with those stuff. So yeah, I'll just meet you..." I trailed off, cueing him to complete my sentence.

He grinned mischievously, the last word coming out a bit more strongly than he had intended. "Valhalla Viking Hall, the shithole of liquor, smokes, blaring music, and hoes."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Oh my God, I am so sorry for the late update! I kinda lost myself with the story, like a dead end, writer's block. Nasty piece of shit. Took me months to think of upcoming scenes. I guess next chapter'll be about the face-off between Arthur and Emil's band, something bad happens like Arthur said, theeeen, maybe our little protagonist won't escape that nicely. Maybe. Not saying anything for sure.

Gonna update 'Head Over High Heels', 'My Erotic Ambassador', then 'The Walk'. Then I'll have to do something about those USUK drabbles ('Reasons Why I Love Alfred F. Jones). Wow, I am so inconsistent. Haha~

In case you haven't noticed yet, Emil is** Iceland**. My headcanon last name for him is Steilsson, rather than the more popular variant, Bondevik.

Gwyneth is **Wales**, William is **New Zealand**, Jett is **Australia**. I still am not sure if I have mentioned that in another A/N before, but either way, here you go. Until next time, my lovelies~


	7. Chapter 7

**Smokes and Punk Clothes**  
**A USUK fanfic**

* * *

Blaring punk music, cigarette smoke, people around me with tattoos, piercings, wild hair and different-trend clothing, busty chicks and lean guys. That's what Valhalla Viking Hall is. Dimly lit, with the exception of stage lights. Packed like sardines, which made it pretty hard to move, not to mention, pretty hot. I tried as best as I could to follow Arthur and the rest of his band members to the backstage without bumping into people every three steps or so. Even with these glasses, I never really did well in the dark.

We got to the backstage, thankfully unscratched or whatever. A cheerful, yet somewhat small-looking blonde guy was giving them a pep talk. He was kinda different from everybody else. Less hostile.

"Let's do our best, okay, guys? We've already done it three times a row— oh! Hey Arthur!" He turned, mid-talk, to us. He grinned and caught sight of me. "Is that Jones? I had no idea he could play!" He jogged over to me and eyed me properly.

"No, he can't, he's our photographer." Gwyneth was quick to cut in with a slicing tone, sounding like she was ashamed being seen with me here. In a way, I'm just ashamed of being seen and recognized in here in general.

Another blonde guy looked up with a scowl when Gwyneth spoke. "Is that so? You guys are really stepping up, getting a new photographer! I'm Tino!" The first blonde guy chirped, walking over to shake his hands with me. I blinked like an owl and shook back.

"Tino's the keyboardist. He's Finnish." Emil said with a yawn. Wow, my city's United Fucking Nations.

"Gwynnie. We meet again." The other guy who scowled at Gwyneth spoke, an emotionless face showing.

Gwyneth hissed. "Don't call me that, you tosser."

Arthur told the two to stop it, and that they shouldn't get into another fight before the competition. The two reluctantly stopped retorting at each other, but I think I heard Gwyneth say something like, "meddling shitface squirrel" and the other kid say something in some weird, European language or some shit.

Emil spoke. "Anyway, since we got a newbie here, I'm Emil, vocalist and guitarist. He's Leon," he pointed to a black-haired guy who was pretty much quiet the whole time, "the drummer, Lukas, my brother, is the bassist," he pointed to the kid who was getting shirty with Gwyneth, "and there's Tino."

"Nice to know, thanks." I nodded.

"Anyway. Show starts in 10 minutes. We'll be given two songs each — one cover and one original this time. Voting will be based on audience impact." Emil spoke to all of us. I was getting the jitters, even though I wasn't gonna perform.

Everyone started moving to their respective bands and started to fix up. Emil walked to me and leaned up to whisper into my ear, "Alfred. Make sure you capture on video their humiliation, yeah?" I could practically feel his evil smirk on his words.

"Be careful what you say, dude. Maybe it's your humiliation we'll be filming tonight. Besides, I work for them, not for you." I sneered before walking to my group.

* * *

The show started and I stood up front, well, as front as I could go. I tried getting a nice view of them, but everyone was jumping around and cheering. Didn't exactly help that they were all screaming and squealing. I could barely hear my own mind.

So Arthur's band was up first.

"First up, The Sissy Pink Unicorns!"

The entire audience laughed. My eyes were wide with disbelief. Arthur never told me that's what their band was called.

"Our band's name is Kiwi Koala Sheep Scones!" Jett shouted angrily from the backstage, and everyone laughed harder. What the fuck? It sounds like a three-year-old gave birth to that band name. Now I know they weren't serious.

I could hear Jett yelp as Arthur smacked his head pretty harshly.

"Just kidding. Give it up for: Adversary Annihilation!"

I gaped. What kind of band name was that? Damn, it was so badass but at the same time, kinda weird. Why would you name your band something as deep as that? Eh. It doesn't matter, I suppose. It's still badass. Even though I wasn't completely sure what the words meant.

The crowd cheered for them as they came out of the backstage, Jett shining his sun-powered smile and wildly waving his arms around, Arthur giving a smirk (which was... kinda really nice to look at, I must admit), Gwyneth scowling at the crowd and William chuckling happily and waving to some of his fans. They positioned themselves on the instruments now, Jett taking a seat behind the drums, and William flexing his fingers and calmly resting them on the keys of the keyboard. I turned on my camera, getting ready to document this shit.

Let me tell you something about them. They came off as wild. They blew me away with their performance, and it sounded like the audience found it pretty awesome too. Not to be a poophead, though, I was thinking Emil's band would be better because they always win.

After their first song, they smiled, waved and went back to the backstage. I hurried over to them, huge-ass camera in hand. "Oh my God, you guys were fucking awesome!" I practically yelled at them over the noise of the entire hall.

"You think so? Wait till the next song." Jett grinned at me and patted my shoulder.

"No time for relaxing. You guys get some water or whatever and relax a bit, the ice douches are coming up." Arthur sneered, but at the same time, his face had this challenged, amused smirk to it, like this whole battle-of-the-bands thing hurt so good. "No cold water for you, though. You're gonna sing later." He told Gwyneth, pointing a finger at her.

"Eh? Surprise motherfucker, much? You never told me I was gonna sing the next song!" She snarled, jabbing a manicured finger into Arthur's chest. I was getting really worried about their relationship now. They'll probably end up hatemarrying each other which would be kinda weird since they're siblings.

"Surprise motherfucker, indeed. You can go with the flow. It'll be all right." Arthur raised a brow and waved it off dismissively before walking over to the water dispenser whatever.

I heard the redhead half-Welsh girl (or so I assumed) mumble something like, "Fucking asshole, he's lucky I like him or else he'd be singing the next song with his head between the strings of his guitar." with her cheeks flushing pink. Damn. She's kinda creepy.

I found out that Emil's band was called Blank Face, which seemed right for them, with the exception of Tino, because he was like a ball of sunshine.

The whole night went on, party with booze, music and whatnot. Arthur seemed to be having fun, and at the same time, worried for the results. After the last song (by Blank Face) was played, they were cheering for tonight's best band. Afterwards, the host-guy-whatever announced that tonight, for the first time, breaking Blank Face's 10-win-streak through popular vote, Adversary Annihilation was the best tonight.

"Congratulations, man." The host-guy clapped Jett's back afterwards. The party's still going on outside, but they stayed in the backstage for a while after all that, cooling off and whatnot. I just finished showing William and Arthur the photos and videos of their performance tonight. Arthur just nodded appreciatively and William commended me for the nice angle.

"Thanks, mate! Damn, never thought we'd win. It's a nice feeling." Jett chuckled. From the corner of my eye, I could see Emil and his band approaching us.

It was obvious that they were less than pleased that their winning streak had been broken (C-C-C-COOOMBO BREAKEEEERRRR!), but they tried to act as amicably as possible. They tried.

"Congratulations, Arthur, and you guys." Emil nodded to the rest of them, apparently he doesn't give two shits about everyone else's names.

"Thanks." Arthur nodded curtly. "It's nice winning for a change." He smirked.

"It won't happen the next time, though." Lukas scowled at us. "It was just luck."

"What? Well, don't blame your lack of improvement on us, you're just bitter about your loss!" Jett laughed, but I saw a flicker of annoyance pass his face. Just great. We can't win it all.

Tino and William laughed nervously and tried to make them stop arguing before it escalated. "Lack of improvement. Huh. Well, after ten losses, I could safely say you _cheated _to win. It wouldn't make any sense; Adversary Annihilation was always the butt of the joke and the perpetual loser when it comes to these things, and suddenly you win the favour of the audience and judges?" Lukas raised a brow. They weren't joking when they told me Lukas took these things seriously, huh.

"Cheat? Why would we even do something so petty for this? You know what I'm-" Arthur exclaimed, but he was cut off by Gwyneth's fist meeting Lukas' cheek. Oh, damn, that girl packs a punch, and I mean _literally_! "Gwyneth! Jesus fuck, what's gotten into you?"

Lukas held onto his hurting face, braced himself for another punch, but it never came. "I'm fuckin' tired of hearing their cocky shit! Cheated? Who do they think we are, eighth graders? God, he deserved that punch! Fucking sissy cunt."

Arthur shook his head in pained annoyance and disapproval before pulling her away, his sister seething with rage. Lukas sat down and Tino ran to fetch an ice pack for him. "We're going to get going after this." Emil said civilly and calmly.

"Y-you should, yes." William gulped.

* * *

Gwyneth was angry, angry at how the other band insinuated such idiocy. She wrenched her arm out of Arthur's firm grasp, her face red with rage and probably humiliation. I backed a bit to hide behind a wall so they won't see me. I don't even know why I followed them here, but I just did. God knows what might happen.

"Would you please just calm down?" He shouted, cutting her off mid-rant. "I don't give a bloody fuck, okay? What matters is that we won and we had fun."

"He's just pushed too far, okay? Don't even act as if you know our relationship outside of this whole band gig. You don't. So shut the fuck up." And with that, she walked out, but she passed by where I was hiding and snapped at me, "You eavesdropping idiot!"

Arthur walked and saw me as well. "What're you doing here?"

"Making sure nothing else happened. We've had enough trouble for a day."

Tino ran to our spot just then, panic-stricken and wide-eyed. "Your sister fainted!"

"Apparently not. Get her out into the fresh air, I'll deal with this." Arthur commanded and he went with them, and of course, I obligingly followed.

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open, a few minutes after we took her outside. "Are you okay?" Jett asked her, his face genuinely worried.

"No, duh..." She said weakly, her breathing shallow and quick. She was lying down on a bench and we were all Indian-sitting in front of her bench.

"Do you need anything, Gwyneth...?" William asked. Arthur was still inside, dealing with Lukas and the others. Although... I don't know what he meant by that.

She tried shaking her head, but she winced in pain when she did. "No, no, I'm okay."

"You just said you weren't a few seconds ago."

"Smartass." She scowled a bit, before shutting her eyes again. Arthur came out of the hall and frowned down at Gwyneth.

"I think that's enough trouble you'll be causing for all of us. Let's go home now." He said firmly, car keys in a tight grip in his fist. He looked like he was hanging on to a small shred of patience before he lashes out at someone.

"Tch. Okay." Arthur helped her up, and though her knees were wobbly, she managed to make it to the car. Arthur waved before driving away, leaving us all behind.

"...Damn, and I thought I'd be able to hitch a ride with Arthur tonight." Jett laughed and grinned at us.

* * *

**A/N: **I think I walked into a huge writing road-block with this story. I'm so sorry.

I'm this close to actually quitting on this and discontinuing it, ugh. I need ideas.


End file.
